The brotherhood of heroes
by mogwai1988
Summary: Mushra has been having strange dreams lately. He fears something terible is going to happen when a strange boy comes looking for him. Now our hero must save the universe once again. ShinzoxKHxCCxFMAxMR xover.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone I'm back with the sequel to ****'A world of your own'. Since my previous story got thirty reviews I'm putting up the prologue just as I promised. ****For those who didn't read my first story, you don't have to, to follow this one. This isn't going to be a detective but a multiple crossover adventure thingy.**

**Once again sorry for any grammar errors because English isn't my first language. I'm trying to make as less mistakes as possible though.**

**So please read, enjoy and review.**

**Disclaimer: Well this list is going to be longer trough out the story. So let start with I don't own Shinzo or Kingdom Hearts.**

**The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Prologue.**

Dark thunderclouds claimed the evening sky. The soft sound of the approaching thunder could be heard in the distance. Short, bright flashes of lightning joined the sound of the thunderstorm from behind the mountains. Warm spring rain let itself fall from the clouds, onto the warm streets of a small town.

While the storm approached the sleeping community, three shadows walked on the docks of the small harbor. Nearing the entrance to the small town. Covered in darkness, the three walked towards the end of the dock they where on. Soaked by the rain, the three stopped for a moment. In the meantime the storm had reached the town, releasing loud sounds of thunder to mark its presence.

After a small while, two of the three figures walked away, towards the grass fields on the outskirts of the town. The one that was left behind turned his gaze towards the town. A flash of lightning lit up the city for a moment. In that moment the features of a young boy with spiky hair could be seen. His clothes where clearly not that of a normal human or Enterran. But what stood out the most about the boy were his clear blue eyes.

Slowly he walked into the town. Alone and constantly looking around him, like he was looking for something or someone. He sighed deep when he saw the first building which had light shining behind the large windows. The stranger looked up towards the huge structure. He noticed the large sign which said 'police station' right away. Determent he opened the heavy wooden doors and walked inside. Small drops of water found there way to the dry, marble floor. The face of the boy stood tiered and his eyes told the same story.

Juny walked out of her office when she heard the front door close. She knew she was the only one in the building, seeing as her colleagues left a few hours ago. With short quick steps she walked down the marble stairs which led to the entrance hall. When she was almost at the bottom of the stairs, she spotted the soaked boy standing at the front door. His brown hair pointed in every direction and he was wearing strange clothes. She noticed that he looked a little confused at his surroundings.

"Can I help you?" She asked carefully.

The boy noticed her when she spoke and just smiled at her.

**Well this was the prologue. I know Its short but the chapters will be longer. I'm working on chapter two right now but I don't think I can update this story every week. So please wait a little longer.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	2. The stranger

**I'm back again with the real first chapter of this story. I hope I explained enough in the first chapter for those who didn't read the first story.**

**Now on with the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts or anything that has a brandname.**

**The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter one: The stranger.**

The sun shone bright the next morning. All traces of the storm where gone and the signs of the summer reappeared. Birds sang there morning song as loud as they could.

Mushra took a sip of his coffee, while leaning with his back against the kitchen counter. He heard his radio playing softly in the living room. He looked at the clock than hung on the kitchen wall. Seeing the time made him sigh. It was still early in the morning but he had his reasons for getting up so soon.

He closed his eyes, thinking about the last few nights. Nights he hadn't had since a few months ago. Since he spend a few weeks in the hospital and had those terrible dreams. Those same dreams disappeared after they got his of the morphine, but a few nights ago they returned.

He put his mug down on the counter and stretched out his arms above his head. He remembered that the dreams he had the first two nights where the same. The same dark surroundings and the same clear eyes that looked so intense and seem to pierce his soul.

But last night something changed. His dream always showed him two different eyes. One that was clear brown and the other ocean blue. But last night, the pair of brown eyes disappeared and was replaced by a pair of violet once and a pair of golden eyes. He was almost certain the two new figures where about his height. Both of those eyes told him the same story. Both had a look of torment in them like they had seen the worse thing in the world. One thing was for sure, it wasn't the same look the other two had.

Mushra picked up his mug again to take another sip. At that moment Yakumo walked into the kitchen still in her nightgown. A smile crept on his face. She smiled back at him but her face carried a look of disappointment.

"I was hoping you would still be sleeping." She told him.

"Why's that?"

"I wanted to surprise you with some breakfast."

He put down his coffee once again and walked over to her to give her a quick kiss.

"That's very sweet Yakumo, but I'm not really in the mood for breakfast right now."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just not that hungry."

"You're never not hungry." She stated with a smile.

"So you don't believe me."

The human girl shook her head.

"Alright I'll tell you."

Another sigh escaped his body as Yakumo sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"I've been having those dreams again for the past three nights. The same visions I had when I was in the hospital."

"So the painkillers didn't give you those dreams?"

"No, I'm sure about that now. But I'm beginning to worry."

"About your visions you mean. Do you think something is going to happen?"

He nodded.

"I don't know what or when we will know. But the last dream I had was different than the once I had before. I think something is going to change not long from now."

"Could it be a bad thing?"

"Yeah. Those black creatures I told you about. I think they have something to do with it."

Yakumo let her head down a bit. She was afraid his dreams would become reality and that something terrible was going to happen. She felt Mushra's fingers lifting her chin up a bit, making her look straight into his eyes.

"Don't worry Yakumo. I'm doing that enough for the both of us. Besides we'll get trough it together." He told her with a smile.

Another smile appeared on her lips. Mushra bent towards her and gave his loved one a passionate, soft kiss.

"Just don't think about it anymore okay. We'll just have to wait and see what happens and I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle as a Guardian." He said with a wink.

"You're probably right." She laughed.

"Thanks for making me tell this Yakumo. I feel a lot better now that we talked about it."

"No problem. I'm just glad we can talk about this sort of things together."

"Yeah me too."

An awkward silence fell in the kitchen. Only the sound of the singing birds could be heard. After a moment it was Mushra who broke the silence.

"Yakumo do you want to eat out tonight?" He asked with a blush.

"I would love to."

At that moment the phone rang. Yakumo prepared herself to stand up from the chair but was stopped by the gesture of the young Enterran.

Mushra picked up the receiver.

"This is Mushra."

"Mushra this is Juny."

"Juny how are you? It's been ages since I last spoke to you."

"I'm fine but I'm this is not a social talk Mushra."

"Let me guess you need my help on a new case."

"Euhm…Something like that. Just drop by the station there is someone here who needs your help."

"No problem. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"See you later."

"Bye Juny."

Mushra put down the receiver but kept staring at it with a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong Mushra?" Yakumo asked noticing his look.

"Juny just called. There is someone at the police station that needs my help. She didn't say who though."

"Maybe she doesn't know that person."

"To be honest I have a strange feeling about this."

"You should go." Yakumo told him.

Mushra looked at her with a questioned look.

"I think you should go. Maybe that person is connected to your dreams, like your feeling tell you. Or…"

"Or it's just someone who wants my help." Mushra finished.

Yakumo nodded.

"You really can read my mind Yakumo."

She laughed.

"No I can't. I just know you that well."

"How long has it been now? Since we met I mean."

"Almost five years now I think."

"Has it been almost five years since we met and started our adventure?" He asked.

"Yep. Maybe this person Juny wants you to meet, can be the start of a new case or another adventure."

"You mean an adventure in where I can save the world again?"

She nodded.

"I hope it doesn't go that far."

"I hope so to Mushra."

Mushra enjoyed the warm weather while he walked trough the streets of the small town. Even though the weather was perfect, the disturbing feeling he had kept lingering in his head. The big police station came in sight way to soon for Mushra's taste.

He pushed the large doors open and walked into the main hall with a shiny marble floor. Seeing the floor send a shiver down his spine. The memories about the last time he stepped into the building took a hold of his thoughts. He quickly shook of the thought about that night and walked towards a desk that stood near the entrance.

"Excuse me." Mushra started.

The black haired girl that stood behind the large desk, smiled at him.

"Can I help you?'

"Yeah. I'm looking for Juny Fairway's office."

"Just go up the left stairs down the hall and then it's the second door to your left. I think you have to go look for her there."

Mushra gave her a friendly smile before he thanked her. With heavy footsteps he walked up the stairs on his way to the person who needed his help.

He carefully opened the door to her office. He was greeted almost immediately, by a women with short brown hair. A delicate red ribbon held up a small ponytail.

"Juny you cut your hair." Mushra noticed.

"I had it done last week."

"It suits you."

"Thank you. But we are really getting of the subject."

"Right the reason why you called me here. You did sound rather serious on the phone. What's wrong?"

"It's the person who needs your help. I met him last night but I didn't get much from what he told me."

"So what did you get? Tell me what happened."

"It was raining last night. I was still in the office, finishing some paperwork. Then I heard the front door open and close and I went down to take a look. He just stood there, in the hall soaking wet and wearing the strangest clothes I have ever seen. But he looked tired like he hadn't sleep for a few days."

"I know the feeling." He mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Please continue."

"Alright. I felt a little sorry for the kid and took him to my house and borrowed him a pair of clothes that where my brother's once."

"Do you have a brother?"

Juny nodded.

"He's a journalist and drops of here once in a while. He usually stays with me when he does that."

"So what else happened last night?"

"He stayed in the guest room after I gave him something to eat. He really didn't say much until this morning when he thanked me and told me why he was at the police station. Like I said I didn't follow his story that well, but I did get the part where he told me he needed to find a Celestial Guardian."

"And the first Guardian that popped in your mind is me?"

"Sorry Mushra, but he looked like a lost puppy. I told him I knew someone who could help. Meaning you."

Mushra sighed deep.

"Besides maybe you can figure out his story. After all you have universal knowledge."

"I don't know everything. Just a little something about what's out there in the universe. Nothing special."

"Alright come with me, he's in the boss's office."

Mushra walked in just in time to see a young boy eat the last remains of a sandwich.

"We gave him some breakfast." Juny whispered.

De boy was dressed in a plain white shirt and black jeans. His shoes where yellow with black bands crossed over them. Mushra noticed his shoes where really large for normal feet. A heavy looking chain hung around his neck. On the end of it a crown shaped pendant loosely swung back and forth. He had brown, spiky hair and bright blue eyes.

The stranger looked up when the two detectives walked in.

"I told you I would get someone to help you." Juny said.

The strange boy stood up from his seat.

"Mushra meet Sora. Sora this is Mushra. He can help you find a Guardian."

"Nice to meet you." The boy named Sora said.

Mushra smiled.

"Likewise."

Mushra took the hand the boy held out and shook it.

The boy also smiled at the Enterran. At that moment Mushra saw something in the his eyes that seemed familiar. Then it hit him. The dark surroundings and the eyes he saw the previous nights returned in his mind. The clear blue eyes of his dream and that of the boy in front of him where the same. He was sure of it.

**I know, kind of a small cliffhanger here. But you'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out what happens next and why Mushra has these strange dreams. **

**If you want you can review but chapter two is going to take a while to finish. I hope I'll have it up by next weekend.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	3. The prophecy

**Hey there I'm back with the first part of the second chapter. I'm working really hard on the second part and I hope I'll have it done by next week. ****So please enjoy this first part of chapter two.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts and Monster Rancher. ****Told ya the list was going to get longer.**

**Chapter two: The prophecy**

A smile appeared on the face of the strange boy.

"So you are a Guardian?" He asked.

Mushra gave him a surprised look.

"I don't think…" He started.

"Yes, you are a Guardian. You're the one I've been looking for Mushra."

"How can you be sure?" Juny asked suddenly.

"I'm not completely sure. But his eyes, I am sure I've seen them before."

The detective continued to listen with a serious look on his face.

"I've been having strange dreams lately. Well they don't look like dreams, more like visions that show me a moment in the future."

"Dreams which begin in darkness and reveal their eyes in the little light that can reach them." Mushra continued.

Sora nodded.

"Wait a minute. Are you talking about the same dream you had a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah that's the one we are talking about."

"So you are one of the chosen ones." Sora said.

"Chosen ones? I admit that I'm a Celestial Guardian but I'm not chosen for anything else."

Sora showed him a big grin. The look on the boy's face gave Mushra that strange feeling again.

"You are. We both are chosen to fulfill a prophecy."

"Prophecy?"

"It's rather complicated Mushra but there is this prophecy that is kept in the library of Hollow Bastion."

"Hollow Bastion? I've never heard of that place before." Juny stated.

"If I remember correctly it's been renamed into Radiant Garden again. The name Hollow Bastion hasn't left my head just jet." The brunette explained.

"What does the prophecy say? What is so important that you need my help?" Mushra asked him.

"I've only read it once and can't really remember what it said exactly. But it seemed to be really important." Sora answered nervously.

"So how did you find out you had to find a Celestial Guardian? What I mean is how did you know you had to find me?"

"The prophecy described the chosen ones. Something about the angel of light, the loyal dog and the energetic phoenix or something like that."

Mushra started thinking about what Sora had said. The boy noticed this.

"If you want I could bring you to Hollow Bastion to read the prophecy."

He looked up from his thinking position.

"That would probably clear up a few things. Tell me Sora am I the first of the chosen ones you found?"

Sora shook his head.

"Before I arrived here I've visited a world where humans and monsters live together. There is where I met Genki and Holly."

Sora reached towards the backpack that was standing on the ground beside him. He took out what seemed to be a photo and gave it to Mushra while Juny looked at it from behind him. A small boy stood in the picture with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing an orange cap and a slightly too big shirt. He was smiling at the one who took the picture. A girl stood behind the boy and was taller than the boy. She also had brown hair and brown eyes.

"On the first day I was there I met Genki and Holly. Their the two in the picture."

"Genki is one of the chosen ones." Mushra suddenly noticed.

Sora nodded again.

"So you can see it to. I tried to talk him into coming with me but Genki wouldn't leave his friends."

"What did you do next?"

"I was planning to try again the next morning but they where taken by the Heartless. I tried to save them both but I was too late."

"Heartless?" Juny and Mushra asked at the same time.

"There dark creatures that are born from the dark side of peoples hearts. The heart of someone becomes a Heartless when darkness consumes him and the body of that person becomes a Nobody. Both of them are creatures of darkness and really dangerous." He explained.

"I think the Heartless are part of the prophecy and I understand why they took Genki. But I have no idea why Holly was taken." He continued.

"Did this incident happen two days ago by any change?"

"Yeah."

Then Sora knew why Mushra thought that.

"Did your dreams change to?" Mushra asked.

"They did. I think the whole thing that happened on Monster Rancher is the start of the prophecy."

"Monster Rancher?" Juny asked.

"The name of the world Genki and Holly lived." Mushra explained to her.

"Every world has a different name. What is this world called?"

"Enterra. This world is called Enterra."

"Can I ask you one more question Mushra?"

"Sure what do you want to know?"

"Well the prophecy told me to find a Guardian. I looked up some things about Guardians before I started looking. It seems that they live in a realm just outside one world."

"That's true."

"How come you're not in that realm but on here on this world?"

"Let's just say that I gave up my immortality a long time ago to save the universe. I was reincarnated again on this world but the danger that I thought I sealed away, came back. I had to pick up my duties as a Celestial and saved this world. As a reward I could stay a Guardian or live my life here on Enterra."

"You chose the last one?"

Mushra nodded.

"In the end it would have mattered a lot if I chose to stay a Guardian. But it doesn't mean I can't help you Sora. I still have the card that can give me my Celestial powers but I'm not immortal anymore just like the others."

"Others."

"Other Guardians."

His eyes grew large.

"There are more?" He asked surprised.

Mushra smiled.

"There are. But I can't tell you much about it. As a Guardian we have to keep our secrets secret and don't give to much info on our race."

Sora stood up from his chair and looked at the two with an enthusiastic look on his face.

"I understand Mushra but will you help me figure out the prophecy?"

"It my duty as Guardian to protect the universe but officially I can't meddle with the affairs of other worlds." Mushra stated.

The happy look on Sora's face was gone and a small smile appeared on Mushra's lips.

"But I'm not an official Guardian anymore so that rule doesn't apply to me anymore." He continued.

"So you're going to help me?" He asked with a happy voice.

Mushra nodded.

Feeling a sudden boost of energy Sora picked up his backpack and quickly walked to the door.

"Come on lets go!"

Mushra stood up from his seat and looked at the boy with a surprised face.

"You mean now?"

Sora nodded.

"You can't do that Sora." Juny said with a careful voice.

"Listen Sora, it's not that I don't want to go with you right away, but I promised my girlfriend that I would take her out to dinner tonight."

Again Sora showed the two detectives a large and happy grin.

"No problem we can leave tomorrow morning."

"I presume you want to say goodbye to your friends before you leave." Juny said to Mushra.

"They would appreciate it. Sora do you want to help me explain everything to them? I doubt if they would really believe me if I told them everything you just explained."

"Sure."

"Alright just come to Kutal's place around ten o'clock alright."

Sora looked at him with a confused look on his face but nodded anyway.

With a deep sigh Mushra closed the door to his home. Juny decided to take Sora for a tour around the town. Yakumo looked up from her work in the garden when she heard the front door close. She walked into the kitchen and saw Mushra putting a kettle on the fire with a disappointed look on his face.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Let's just say that I am going on a journey tomorrow for an unknown amount of time."

"So it wasn't a new case huh?"

"My hunch was right. The person on that needed my help turned out to be someone from another world."

"Which one?"

Mushra raised his shoulders. He already knew Yakumo had some knowledge about the other worlds outside of Enterra so he wasn't to suprised when he heard her question.

"Don't know on which one he lives. But he mentioned Hollow Bastion a few times and he knows a lot about the black creatures I saw in my visions."

She walked towards him and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Mushra froze for a moment but put his arms around her waist after a short moment.

"It must be very important if you're going tomorrow." She whispered.

"You know I'll come back."

She loosened her grip and looked at her loved one.

"I'm just afraid something will happen to you."

"So you are worried."

She looked at him with a questioned look.

"You where the one that told me not to worry and that everything would be alright."

Both of them smiled at each other.

"I'm going to come back Yakumo. I promise." He told her with a suiting voice.

Mushra placed one hand on the back side of her neck and kissed her softly.

What seemed to be an eternity later he broke the kiss and pressed her body against his.

"You don't have to be afraid Yakumo. We'll just make sure we make it to the end alive."

"We?"

He pulled back from the embrace and looked at her.

"Kind of a long story but Sora and I will tell you all about it tonight."

She sighed deeply and tears stung in her eyes. Noticing this he laid his hand against her warm cheek.

"I know why you are sad and I really don't want to go. But I have to because it's my duty as a Guardian."

Yakumo nodded.

"Maybe it would help if I promise you something." He proposed.

"Like what?"

He turned his gaze towards the ceiling and began thinking. He wanted her to wait for him while he would be gone. Still he had no idea what he could promise her.

**I know not much of an exiting ending to this one but I plan to start the real adventure in the end of the second part of chapter two. So please wait a little longer and please review.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	4. The prophecy part two

**Hey there i'm back with the last part of chapter two and because I was kinda busy last week with some fanart****, I made this last part longer than usual. ****So please take your time and enjoy this chapter in the last weeks of summer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts, everything that's owned by Disney and everything that's owned by Square Enix.**

**The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter two: The ****prophecy part two.**

Then it hit him. He knew what he could promise her and he knew it would make her happy.

"If I come back alive then…then I will promise that I will always be a part of your live."

"Mushra I know that already. I knew you would be ever since I came back on Enterra."

"I meant something else."

Yakumo looked at him with a questioned look on her face. A light blush appeared on his cheeks.

"What I meant to say is that I promise to marry you when all this is over."

She looked at him with a shocked look on her face.

"When we are both ready I mean." He quickly said after seeing the expression on her face.

He felt his cheeks getting warmer by the second but he wasn't prepared on the next thing that happened. A small smile appeared on her lips and she looked like the happiest girl in the world. She threw back her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.

"I would love to marry you someday Mushra." She said after breaking the kiss.

"When we are both ready I'll propose to you the romantic way." He said with a smile.

"I think this is pretty romantic."

Sago looked at his watch for the third time. He received an urgent phone call from Mushra an hour ago. There was something his best friend wanted to discus right away. That had been the reason why he was sitting on a terrace taking the last sip of his second cup of coffee. A brown haired waitress walked up to him and asked him if he would like another cup. Sago smiled at her and simply nodded.

"Sago!" He heard someone call.

The waterenterran looked in the way the yelling came from and saw Mushra running his way. He held up his hand but his usual smile was nowhere to be seen.

"You're late." He said calmly.

Mushra came to a halt in front of the table Sago sat on.

"Sorry, that's my fault."

"I'll bet. You called me and hour ago to meet me here. What did you do in the meantime?"

Hearing that question made his face turn red again. He looked at his best friend with a startled look on his face.

"Yakumo and I euhm…we had something to discus." He said eventually.

Sago's smile reappeared on his face.

"Just forget it Mushra I know enough now."

Relieved Mushra took a seat at the small table.

"So what did you want to talk about and why couldn't you use the phone?" Sago asked.

Mushra shook his head.

"So much happened today." He started.

The boy sighed deeply.

"I don't know if I did the right thing but I sort of promised Yakumo that I would marry her."

"You promised?" Sago asked.

Mushra nodded.

"But you two have been together for a month!"

"We won't get married until we are both ready." Mushra explained.

"Then why did you promise her that?"

"It's complicated and I don't understand most of it myself but I'm leaving tomorrow to go on a journey. I don't know when I'll be back."

"Can't we go with you? We've always travelled together."

"That's not possible. Like I said it's complicated but it has something to do with those dreams I had."

"The nightmares?" He asked with a scared voice.

The waterenterran could still remember the last time he saw the effects of the dream Mushra had. He remembered how small cuts mysteriously appeared on the cheek of his best friend and he was sure they weren't there when he checked on him that night.

"Come to Kutal's tonight and Sora will explain everything."

"So tonight we're saying goodbye."

Again Mushra nodded.

"Would you mind keeping an eye on Yakumo from time to time? I hate to see her get lonely or sad."

"No problem Mushra. Kutal and I will look after her and she knows she can talk to us when she wants to."

"Thanks Sago."

"What's this?" Sora asked Juny.

The brunette pointed towards a big statue of an angel. A gold coloured plaque was screwed on the base of it. The statue hadn't leave its place since it was placed three years ago and every year people came to lay flowers near the angel or burn candles on the ground.

"This is a monument to remember the victims of the war three years ago."

"War?" Sora asked.

"The war against the Caidrians three years ago. The dark power Mushra talked about this morning, came back three years ago and crashed here on Enterra. Mushra remembered then he was a Guardian and saved the world."

"Mushra's story must be an interesting one." Sora mumbled.

"His story starts way before the war." Juny told him.

The boy looked at the detective with a questioned face.

"I don't know much of it except for what my uncle told me. He told me that Yakumo died during the war and got revived about a month ago."

"How's that possible and how did those two meet anyway?"

Juny just smiled.

"You sure are a curious one. If you want an answer you have to ask Mushra himself."

"If he wants to answer."

"I don't know Mushra all that well to be honest. He doesn't talk much about himself so I think he doesn't feel too comfortable about it."

Sora nodded.

"Come let's get going to Kutal's. It's getting dark soon and to be honest I'm getting hungry. How about you?"

Again the boy nodded.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was a tense one. Everyone that was present in the small kitchen knew big news was going to be announced. The presence of the strange boy didn't seem to lighten the mood. Sora was wearing the strangest clothes Mushra had ever seen. They hung loosely around his body and seemed to be connected by small straps. Mushra suspected that Sora's new outfit must have been the one he arrived in.

"So now that we are all here, will someone tell us why we are having a meeting?" Binka asked.

"Maybe I could explain some things." Sora started.

Mushra nodded when Sora looked at him with a questioned look on his face. Determent the boy stood up from his seat.

"My name is Sora and my live changed three years ago. My world was attacked by creatures named Heartless. My best friend got lost into the darkness and my other best friend lost her heart. My world, my home disappeared after that night three years ago but I survived and ended up in Traverse Town. It took me a while to find out I arrived in an other world."

"So you are from another world?" Yakumo asked.

Sora nodded.

"I met my new friends Donald and Goofy in Traverse town. The told me that the where looking for their king and the one who wields the Keyblade. That's how I got to travel with them because the Keyblade chose me to be his wielder before my world disappeared. After visiting many worlds we managed to find Hollow Bastion and defeat the one controlling the Heartless."

"Did it end there?" Mushra asked.

Sora shook his head.

"We got stuck in another world but what happened after that is one big blur. What I do remember is that I woke up in some sort of pod in the basement of a large mansion in a world called Twilight Town."

"You mentioned the Nobody's this morning. Did you see them three years ago."

"No I met those last year when I and my friends woke up in Twilight Town. Organisation Thirteen was controlling them but after we defeated them the prophecy showed up and with them more Heartless and Nobody's. Merlin thinks someone knows about the prophecy."

"And that's why I'm going with Sora tomorrow morning. To stop the prophecy."

"Mushra is one of the chosen ones and that's why we have to leave as soon as possible." Sora stated.

"Chosen! Do you have any idea what happened here three years ago and what Mushra had to endure that day. What we all had to endure. He deserves to live a quit normal live." Sago said with an angry voice.

"Sago calm down."

"No Yakumo I won't calm down. Hearing your story I assume there are more of those Heartless around the universe. If that is true then they will spread out onto those worlds you spoke about and then…"

"Then it will be my duty as a Celestial Guardian to help Sora and the universe. Including Enterra." Mushra said calmly.

His rage of anger subsided after hearing Mushra's calm words.

"Fine if you want to go then go."

"I told you this afternoon that I would have to go on a journey."

"But you didn't say anything about saving the universe." Yakumo said.

"I didn't want to worry anyone."

Sora bowed his head.

"I'm so sorry about this but I wouldn't ask Mushra's help if I didn't need it."

"It's alright my boy. Mushra has an important function as a Guardian and we all knew that for a while. We just hate to see him leave that's all. No need to feel guilty."

"Kutal is right Sora." Juny told him.

"Let us just get prepared for tomorrow's journey." Mushra proposed.

"That's a good idea."

The sweet smell of the summer hung around the back yard the next morning. Just like yesterday morning Mushra woke up early and this time a damping cup of coffee stood beside him on the kitchen counter. He looked out of the window with a sad look on his face, waiting for the sun to rise. Every now and then a sigh escaped his body.

A leather brown suitcase stood ready besides the sofa in the living room. Ready to come with him when Sora came to pick him up. He could hear someone walking softly in the bathroom of his small home. He noticed Yakumo walking into the kitchen a few minutes later. He looked up to her with a smile on his lips and a tiered look on his face.

"Couldn't sleep either?" She asked.

"No and it wasn't the dreams that woke me up this time."

"I hope this will end soon Mushra. We don't want to you to leave."

"I'll be back as soon as I can. And if there is a way to make contact with you, I'll send you a message okay?"

"I know you will." She said with a sweet voice.

All of a sudden he heard the sound of the doorbell. Mushra walked towards it with a fast pace, grabbing his suitcase on his way. With his baggage in his hand he opened the door, already knowing what was behind it.

There in the doorway stood Sora with a big grin on his face along with the same tiered look Mushra had. It made the enterran wonder where the boy would get the energy to smile all day.

"Good morning Sora."

" 'Morning Mushra. Did you sleep well?"

"Not really and you?"

"Same here."

In the meantime Yakumo was standing behind her loved one. Sora noticed her and gave her a smile.

"Did you two enjoyed dinner last night?"

"We cancelled our dinner plans after last nights meeting." Mushra answered.

"We stayed home and made dinner. Then we went to bed early." Yakumo continued.

An eerie silence fell between the three.

"So are you two coming to the ship?"

Yakumo shook her head.

"I don't want to say goodbye to be honest." She said.

"That's why we'll have a fast goodbye."

"Don't worry you'll see each other soon enough." Sora assured them.

Mushra nodded towards Sora and turned his attention towards Yakumo again.

"So I guess this is goodbye." He said with a soft voice.

Yakumo nodded and felt tears stinging in her eyes. He quickly gave her a soft kiss before walking of the hill with Sora.

After a few hours later, the two arrived in the small forest that just lay outside the town.

"Why are we walking here?" Mushra asked.

"I needed to cover up the Gummyship and this seemed like the perfect place."

Mushra assumed that this 'Gummyship' was some kind of transportation vehicle

"Do you remember where you parked that thing?"

Suddenly Sora came to a halt and looked at the enterran with a nervous look.

"Of course I remember."

A few meters before them lay a fallen over tree trunk on the ground. Seeing the trunk made Mushra think. There was a storm two nights ago but the trunk didn't seem to have any burn marks on it from the lightning. It wasn't the only fallen tree in the area and all of them looked like the where pushed out of the ground.

Sora still seemed a little nervous when he walked over the trunks. He stopped again after a few meters and was now standing in front of a brightly coloured spaceship. Mushra's looked surprised but it wasn't the sight of the strange ship that made him look surprised. Around the Gummyship several trees where lying on the ground. Mushra was sure Sora tried to land the ship and took down some trees in the process.

"So this is your way of covering something up?" He asked calmly.

"Sorry about the trees but the open space where I tried to land wasn't big enough."

"Now it is." Mushra said smiling, followed by the sound of two boys laughing.

"Well come on get in."

Mushra managed to get on the big ship with much effort. The vehicle seemed much bigger from the inside. The two chosen ones stood in beginning of a small hallway, you could just see the door of the cockpit from where the two where standing. They where doors on both sides of the hallway, he was almost sure they leaded to different rooms of the ship.

"I wish I had some time to give you the grand tour but if you don't mind I want to leave right away. We'll probably be in Hollow Bastion before breakfast."

Mushra was still looking at his new surroundings but managed to nod slightly towards Sora.

"Are you coming with me to the cockpit then we can take off."

"Where do I put my suitcase?"

Sora walked towards one of the doors and pushed it open. Behind it was a small bedroom, just big enough for the bed and the closet that stood in there.

"You can sleep here to when you need the rest."

"Thanks Sora."

"No problem. Just put your suitcase anywhere you like and then we'll get going."

Yuffie walked back and forth through the large library of formal Hollow Bastion. Her head was buried in a thick book and every few minutes she walked to one of the many bookshelves to get an even thicker book.

"Yuffie can't you just sit still and read." A young man with spiky brown hair Sighed.

The black haired ninja turned towards the man with a smile on her face.

"No I can't Leon."

"You should give it a try Yuffie." A familiar voice said.

She turned around and smiled widely at Sora. Behind the Keybearer stood Mushra still a little surprised about the fast change of surroundings he'd been in.

"Who's that?" Yuffie asked.

"Yuffie this is Mushra. Mushra meet Yuffie."

"Pleasure to meet you." Mushra said softly before bowing his head a bit.

"We want to read the prophecy again before we continue the journey."

"Go visit Merlin Sora. He's busy to get some sense out of that piece of paper." Leon told them.

"Leon the prophecy already makes sense." The ninja girl protested.

"Alright we'll be on our way to Merlin."

Sora turned around and walked outside the library. All Mushra could do was follow him.

"So where going back to where we started?"

"Merlin's house is close to the shopping district. So yeah we're going back."

Carefully Sora opened the heavy wooden door to Merlin's house. Inside the two boys could hear an old man mumble something. In the small building stood a big computer and many books where spread across the floor. A small round table was placed in the middle of the room.

"Merlin?" Sora asked carefully.

An old man with a white beard and blue robed turned around to face the two boys.

"Sora! I didn't expect to see you so soon. Did you find all of the chosen ones?"

Sora shook his head.

"The first one got away from me and then the dreams began to change. Mushra is the second one I met and he's been having the same dreams to."

"Nice to meet you sir." Mushra quickly said.

The old wizard nodded slightly at him with a friendly smile on his face.

"Leon told us you where busy decoding the prophecy. Have you got any new information?"

Merlin nodded.

"The prophecy describes the chosen ones who are chosen to stop a great evil. It also predicts that a meteorite will fly across different worlds soon."

"That doesn't sound too dangerous." Sora mumbled.

"You have no idea what can be hidden in that meteor."

"Mushra is right boy. I've done some research on the meteor and it seems that it comes by every five hundred years. This meteor hold a dark power that can be tamed."

"If that power falls into the wrong hands something terrible might happen." The enterran stated.

Again the old wizard nodded.

"You have to look for the chosen ones and stop anyone who tries to tame it's power."

"Merlin do you think the Heartless and Nobody's might have something to do with this?" Sora asked.

"The change is growing as is the number of Heartless and Nobody's."

"Do you have any idea how that power can be tamed?" Mushra asked.

"I wish I knew my boy. But it seems that a part of the prophecy is missing."

"So that's what's Leon and Yuffie where looking for?" Sora asked.

"That and the whereabouts of the other chosen ones. But they haven't found anything yet."

"Would you mind if we read the prophecy again?"

"Of course."

Merlin turned towards the small wooden table and pulled out an piece of paper out of a book.

The document looked like nobody had read it for a century. Mushra carefully took it and started reading the fine handwriting.

_Once banned to float between time and space, returns from his eternal search. Five hundred years it will dwell until his power is tamed. _

_The meteor will travel passed many worlds, hiding his true power until it is summoned. _

_Five chosen ones have to stop this dark force before it awakens._

_The bearer of the Key will be chosen to bring the five together._

_The bearer of light and hope shall bring peace in the universe. His eyes will guard all that he loves._

_The healing light of the mystic bird will be a chosen one for a small period of time._

_The sinner who threw away anything he once believed to help her and protect her. His true power is still hidden. His live connected with hers._

_The scientist who doesn't believe in magic. He possesses a special gift and will protect his family._

_The five can destroy the dark power and make an end to its journey._

_He who is trapped can be released by…_

"We have to find the rest of that prophecy. That last part sounds like an important one." Mushra whispered.

**This took me forever to translate! But it was fun doing so.**

**I don't know when I'll be updating again, but I'm going to be busy with more Shinzo fanart. If you want to check it out just go to deviantart. My artist name is the same there as it is here. This chapter is also posted there but this one has a few last minute changes.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	5. The alchemist

**Hey everyone I'm just posting this one before I call it a night and go to bed. ****I know this chapter doesn't have any heartless or nobodies in it just yet but I'm working on it. ****So the journey finally begins for Mushra as they set sail to the first world to look for the chosen ones.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, Disney, everything owned by Square Enix, FMA and Monster Rancher. ****I don't think I left out anything did I?**

**Read enjoy and please review.**

** Chapter three: The alchemist.**

"But where could that last part be?" Sora asked.

"We are working hard to search Tranverse Garden for that last piece. If we know something more about the prophecy we will contact you of course." The old wizard told them.

"Did Leon and Yuffie find anything new about the chosen ones?"

Merlin shook his head again.

"We don't have a clue who they are or where they live."

"So that Sora found me and Genki was just a lucky shot." Mushra concluded.

Sora began to laugh nervously when he heard Mushra say that.

"It was nothing but dumb luck." The brunette confessed.

"But on the contrary!" A soft women voice said.

Both Sora and Mushra looked up towards the heavy wooden door. There in the doorway stood a young woman with long brown hair and wearing a light pink dress.

"Aerith!" Sora called happily.

"Good morning Sora. Leon and Yuffie told me you came back today. How was your journey?"

"We are still busy finding the chosen ones." He confessed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but you said it wasn't just luck that brought Sora to my world to find me and to Genki's. Do you mind explaining?" Mushra asked.

"The prophecy says that Sora is the one to bring the chosen ones together. He is guided by his intuition to find them." She explained.

Al of a sudden something came to his mind.

"Merlin, if that meteor comes by every five hundred years, does that mean that the prophecy needed to be stopped or fulfilled five hundred years ago?" Mushra asked.

"I think so."

"What are you thinking about Mushra?" Sora asked him.

"There is just something that doesn't ad up in the prophecy. But to find out what I'll have to go back to Enterra and then back to Shinzo."

"Shinzo is the realm the Celestial Guardians live in right?"

Mushra nodded.

"You know what Mushra, let's have breakfast first and we'll discus what to next after that."

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"It's a good thing you boys didn't have breakfast because I made a little too much just now." Aerith said with a smile.

Dark clouds claimed the sky, rain had been falling down from the sky for the entire day and it didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Thanks to the bad weather, the streets of Central City were almost deserted. The little bit of light the day had brought, was starting to fade away slowly. The night seemed to fall faster then usual and that was what gave him the creeps.

Two boys where waiting in the rain just in front of a huge iron gateway. The rain dripped of their faces while they where waiting. Behind the gateway lay Central City's military headquarters, a massive, tall grey building that stood out against the surrounding buildings.

One of the two boys was tall and was wearing a medieval type of armor that shined more than usually because of the rain. The other boy was a lot shorter then the one in armor and was wearing a long red coat with a strange symbol on his back. The black leather pants he was wearing, was shining just as must as the armor did. A few stands of his blonde hair where stuck on his face. The braid he was wearing was no longer neat and tight like it was supposed to be. He had a tired and irritated look on his face while he was going trough his suitcase, looking for something.

The tall suit of armor looked nervously around him while he waited until his companion found what he was looking for. With a deep sigh the blonde boy pulled out a thick file from his suitcase. His clothes where already soaked by the rain as was everything else that was in the case.

It was then that the young boy noticed the strange behavior of one next to him.

"Aru, stop being so nervous!" The blonde boy said with a hint of anger in his voice.

Still hearing metal move around was let the smaller boy know that the suit of armor hadn't stop looking around.

"Aru!" He warned.

"I'm sorry Nii-san! It's just that something feels really off today. Haven't you noticed that the streets are almost completely empty!"

"That's because it's raining and colonel bastard is sending us to dead ends on the stone for the past three weeks!" The blonde yelled out of frustration.

"Nii-san stop shouting. The whole city doesn't have to hear you."

"I'll yell whenever I want to damn it!"

"Did you get enough sleep the last few days?"

Another sigh escaped his body. Tiered he let his suitcase drop on the wet street en ran one of his gloved hands trough his hair. His cheeks where a light shade of pink that had been there for nearly two days.

"I haven't slept well. I'm not in the mood to eat anything and I feel crappy." He admitted.

"Maybe a little sleep will help Nii-san."

"I'll go to bed Aru. But first I have to listen to the colonel's sarcastic remarks again!"

Angry, he threw the iron gate open which croaked and squeaked when it opened. Almost stamping, the blonde boy walked towards the entrance of the large building. Slowly his breathing started to get quicker again. He was breathing like that the moment he walked outside the train station.

"Wait up Nii-san!"

The voice of his younger brother seemed to fade against the sound of the falling rain. With much effort he managed to push the door open.

"Why am I so tiered? I never felt this exhausted before and that door usually opens a lot easier. Maybe it's the nightmares I've been having. Maybe I need a vacation." He thought.

Before the boy walked into the building, he turned around to see the suit of armor ruining towards him.

"No, I can't take a break. For Alphonse." He softly whispered.

He gave his little brother a quick smile before stepping into the building. The marble floor reflected everything like a mirror. Military staff, in blue uniforms, where walking in and out of the large room. Slowly he walked towards the information desk right in front of him while his limbs where starting to feel heavier. His heart felt like it was going to pop out of his chest any moment now. Only being halfway down to the desk everything went black and he couldn't feel anything but the cold floor.

"So what are the plans?" Sora asked while he chewed on a piece of bread.

Mushra took another sip of his coffee before he answered.

"The best option we have now is to travel to a couple of worlds to try and find the others. But we have to get back to Enterra as quickly as possible."

"Why do you wanna go home so bad?"

"Every five hundred years the meteor with that dark power comes by every world in this part of the universe. So there must have been chosen ones five hundred years ago to stop that evil force or at least have had dreams."

"So you want to hear another Guardian out about the last piece of the prophecy?"

Mushra nodded.

"I also want to find out why I didn't know about this. I was a Guardian five hundred years ago."

"What happened exactly?"

"I really don't want to talk about it yet."

Sora looked at Mushra with an understanding face.

"Doesn't matter, I understand. Well shall we go then?"

Mushra nodded and put down his cup on the table.

At that moment Aerith walked out of the kitchen with a fresh can of coffee on a tray.

"You're leaving already?"

Sora nodded.

"Thank you very much for making breakfast." Mushra thanked.

"Maybe we'll drop by soon and tell you about everything we found out."

"You do that and keep in though okay."

"Don't worry Aerith."

"I'm worried." Sora whispered when he was back in the cockpit and already flying between huge rocks.

"About what?" Mushra asked.

"How the heck do we know which world to go to?"

"You heard Aerith. Your instincts will lead the way."

"So what do we do now?"

"Land on the first the best world we run into and start looking there."

"It seems we don't have a lot of chose now do we."

"Not really. Why don't we land over there?" Mushra asked while pointing to a small planet.

"No problem. Hang on!"

Everything felt heavy and only thinking about moving his limbs made every place on his body feel sore. He heard a soft voice talk in the distance.

"He has a high fever and it's not something he got today that's for sure."

"So he has been ill for a few days now."

"_Whose voice is that?"_ The boy thought.

"I just don't think walking in the rain alone caused it."

"Doctor could lack of sleep be a cause?"

The young voice of Alphonse just seemed like a whisper to him. The only thing he could hear clearly was the pounding beat of his heart that raged in his chest.

"It's a possibility."

"So he didn't sleep to well Alphonse."

"The last few weeks he's been having nightmares and hasn't slept much because of them. I think they disappeared on their own 'cause Nii-san started sleeping better. But since a few nights he's been tossing and turning so I think the nightmares are back again."

"We have to let him rest for now. That will get his pulls down a bit."

"And his fever?"

"We'll watch over him tonight and see if thing will improve. Otherwise he'll be given some medication."

"Thank you doctor."

"Let us leave so that the young boy can rest."

"_Wait don't go!" _He screamed in his head.

He couldn't scream or say anything as he heard footsteps fading away.

"Why can't I move? What the hell happened anyway?" He thought.

He took a moment to think and remember the last thing he could remember. He remembered arriving at Central Station and walking in the rain towards headquarters and the moment everything went black.

"Maybe I pased out and Aru put me on a bed. It sure feels like I'm in a bed."

A deep sigh managed to escape his body.

"I'm so tiered but I can't go to sleep now. Those dreams will come back. But then again I guess resting a few minutes won't be that bad."

Mushra rubbed the sore bump he had on his head. There was one thing he was sure of, Sora couldn't land the big spaceship all too well.

The key bearer had made another attempt to 'cover up' the Gummiship by landing in a small group of trees. And just like last time a couple of the thin trees where pushed out of the ground during his attempt to land the vehicle. Mushra wasn't a bit surprised when he saw the trunks on the ground once stood up from the floor and looked trough the front window.

He looked at his traveling companion with a serious look on his face.

"Is this getting a habit of yours Sora?" He asked.

The keyblade master laughed softly before he stood up and ran towards the exit, followed by the young enterran. The last rays of the sun shone between the dark clouds. It had stopped raining and evening was approaching.

"Where did you learn to drive that thing?"

"Hey I had lessons from Cid. He's an expert on Gummiships."

"You didn't miss the lesson on landing now did you?" Mushra asked sarcastically.

A moment of silence fell and Sora's smile disappeared to make place for a sad look.

"I fell asleep during that one."

"Well at least you can make a decent crash landing with that thing."

Hearing that the smile on Sora's face returned.

"Thank you!"

"I didn't mean that as a compliment! If you keep running down trees that ship isn't going to last very long!" Mushra called, surprised to see the sudden change in Sora's mood.

"I know that I was just joking around."

"How about we walk towards that city and go look there?"

Mushra pointed towards the silhouette of a group of buildings.

Sora nodded and already stared walking.

Darkness, nothing but darkness and those strange eyes that kept looking at him. That was the same thing he saw every night he went to sleep.

He has had that dream so many times the past month and every time it awoke him from his slumber. He woke up with questions lingering in his head and he didn't dare to try and sleep again.

This time it was the same as every night he tried to sleep.

"Who are you?" He whispered to ones staring at him.

** I you've read the disclaimer you probably know who the blonde haired boy is. If you don't know you'll just have to wait until the end of this chapter. But I think everyone already figured it out.**

**Just for the record I'm using 'Aru' because I think it sounds kinda cute, so I'm using ****that one instead of Al. ****Also I'm using Nii-san instead of brother, because I'm used to the Japanese version of FMA and it won't go out of my head.**


	6. The alchemist part two

**Well here is the second part of chapter three was it? Anyway I'm already done writing the next and last part of this chapter so that will be up by Saturday I think. ****Please read enjoy and pretty please review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, KingdomHearts, FMA, anything Square Enix and everything by Disney.**

**The brotherhood of heroes**

**The alchemist part two.**

The streets of Central City where no longer soaked by the falling rain but the eerie silence kept lingering the disserted streets. While Mushra and Sora walked trough the streets, shadows seemed to move from their dark corners. The Keyblademaster seemed to notice this and nervously looked around him.

"Sora stop being so nervous!" Mushra told him irritated.

De boy stopped and his traveling companion did the same.

"Don't you notice something strange here?"

The Enterran looked around him.

"It is really quiet here."

"To quiet. This city looked really big from the forest so you would expect some people around here."

"You are right. Do you think that the Heartless…"

Sora nodded before Mushra could finish his sentence.

"We have to be careful. They could jump up at us any minute."

"Then we have to find the chosen one as fast as we can."

"Any idea where?" Sora asked.

"Your instincts are suppose to lead us so don't ask me."

Sora sighed deeply and stared in front of him, thinking. Then he noticed the huge building at the end of the street.

"We should go there." He said while he pointed to the building.

Mushra nodded and took a step forward. The shadows around him began to move faster. Yellow, beady eyes shimmered every now and then. The moment his foot touched the ground the shadows shot out of corners of the buildings and streets straight towards the boys. From the corner of his eye Mushra saw how large black spots became one with the ground. Shocked he jumped backwards a little and watched how the shadows rose from the ground and took the shape of a small black creature with yellow eyes.

"What are those things!" He called.

Sora put out his right hand in front of him and a clear light appeared around his arm. The light only stayed for a few second before it disappeared and he held a large Key in his hands.

"Shadow Heartless!" Sora called back before he ran to Mushra's side.

Mushra stretched his arms in front of him before moving them from each other. Between his hands a golden light emerged which turned into his golden spear.

"I assume we have to fight them."

Again Sora nodded before jumping up and knocking down the first attacking Heartless.

The little creature squirmed on the floor before turning into black smoke and a pink heart floated from its body. Almost immediately after the first one attacked, five others began to move towards the two. Again Sora jumped at one of the creatures and slammed it against the street with his Keyblade like he had been doing it al his live.

Mushra found out he had other problems then the attacking shadows. Like Sora he tried to swing at them with his spear, only to find out his weapon seemed to move right trough there tiny black bodies. Step by step he was forced back until he came into Sora's reach.

"Sora something is wrong!" He yelled.

The brunette whirled his weapon around him before he answered.

"What is it?"

"My spear isn't hitting them!"

"Use magic that'll work."

"Magic? I don't know any!" Mushra shouted in panic.

He moved his body to the side and just managed to avoid an attacking Heartless.

"Magic has to come from the inside. Search in your heart!"

"Search in my heart? I don't know if I can do that but I can't let Sora down either." Mushra thought.

His spear was clutched in one hand and he made a fist with his other. He tried to concentrate and felt something building up inside of him. Mushra saw how the small group of Heartless grew larger and larger. Again one of the creatures jumped at him but this time he felt like he could handle it. The sensation inside of him began to feel stronger and familiar. As quick as he could he pulled back his fist, warm flames surrounded his body. With as much force he made contact with the black shadow that then disappeared, only leaving strange black smoke and a single heart. Full of fury he pointed his spear towards the large group and twirled it around. From his spear a spiral of flames appeared and was pointed directly to the Heartless. When the flames disappeared all of the black creatures in front of him where gone.

"That is what I call magic." Sora stated.

Surprised Mushra stood up from his crouching position.

"That wasn't magic." He whispered.

The Keyblademaster only shot him a strange look.

"I used to have this jewel that helped me to change into Hyper from. A stronger version of me and in that version I could control fire. I never knew that power was still inside of me." He explained.

"I have to hand it to you Mushra. Your timing couldn't get any better."

Mushra shot him a small smile.

"We have to hurry. That where a lot of Heartless and my guess is that this world isn't going to live any longer."

"Let's go."

Sweat rolled of his face. His body shook and his head kept turning on his pillow from left to right. Suddenly he felt something cold on his forehead which awaken of his slumber.

He slowly opened his eyes and waited until the blurry grey spot he saw became clearer. After a moment he recognized the face of his little brother and his breathing became calmer.

"Another nightmare nii-san?"

"Yeah." The blond boy almost whispered.

"Maybe you should take a sleeping pill."

"No. No medicines right now."

He heard his younger sibling giggle. His guess was that he remembered how he hated taking any medication.

"Can I get you something else?"

The boy shook his sleepy head.

"If you do want something just say so okay."

"I know Aru but I'm suppose to look after you."

"You know you can't always look after me and why don't you just let me take care of you for once."

A weak smile appeared on the face of the boy but it disappeared when he heard a gunshot outside of the room he was in. Both brothers looked at the door of the hospital wing with a surprised look when it opened. A blonde women in a military uniform ran into the room, followed by a black haired man also in uniform. The women held unto her gun with dear life and aimed at something in the hallway.

"Lieutenant block the door don't let them in!" The man yelled.

"Colonel what's going on?" Alphonse asked.

Again a few shots left the lieutenants gun before she ran towards the nearest linen closet. The colonel closed the door and rushed to her aid. Together they pushed the large piece of furniture against the door.

"It's those black beast. They're everywhere." The colonel said.

"Black beast. What are you talking about Taisa?" The blonde boy asked with a soft voice.

"Recently these black creatures where spotted in the city. They attacked people and half of Central has gone missing. But they seem to multiply and trying to take over headquarters."

"Can't the state alchemist do anything?" The suit of armor asked.

"The colonel's alchemy hasn't worked on them yet as have my bullets." The women explained.

"Then what should we do lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"Leaving the city is our only option now." The sick boy whispered.

"He is right. We have to leave this place. Hawkeye how's the door?" The colonel asked.

"They are trying to break trough sir. The barricade won't last too much longer."

"They really everywhere!" Sora called when he opened the door of the big building.

The big entrance hall was filled with Heartless. Most of them turned there gaze towards the two who just entered.

"There to many of them."

"We have to fight our way to the chosen one and get then get the hell out of here." Mushra suggested.

A few of the Heartless leaped up for an attack. Quickly Mushra raised his hands and released a fireball on them. They turned into smoke just like the others did.

"Come on I'm pretty sure we have to go down that hallway." Sora said while also let another Heartless change into smoke.

Mushra ran after his traveling compagion while he tried to keep the Heartless at bay.

Carefully Alphonse picked up his sick brother and carried him out of bed. The young boy kept protesting but stopped when he heard the something pounding at the door. The tiered boy pressed his suitcase against his body while he watched the door closely.

"Alright I'm going to count to three and then I throw the door open and we run towards the car."

Both Alphonse and the lieutenant nodded. The female officer place her hands on the closet next to the colonel's. Both where ready to push and fight there way back out of the strange enemy.

"Ready?" The man asked.

He turned his gaze towards the lieutenant and saw her nod again.

"one…two…three push!"

As fast as they could the two pushed the closet out of the way. Before the colonel opened the door he saw the blonde women strengthen her grip on her weapon. He raised his left hand and pulled down the decorated white glove he was wearing.

In the hallway more then a dozen Heartless where ready to storm the room. Traces of claws where deeply etched into the wooden door. Carefully but quickly the colonel threw the door open. As soon as she saw the first black creature the lieutenant began to fire her gun at them. She could only watch as the bullets went trough them like a hand trough water and they slowly walked towards her. Next to her she could hear the colonel snap his fingers and she felt the heat from the flames he produced.

"Taisa it's no use!" Alphonse screamed while he kept stepping backwards pressing his brother against him.

"He is right sir!"

"We have to fight back there is nothing more we can do."

Mushra crouched down for the tenth time since he stepped into the building and for the tenth time he twirled his spear around and released his newfound fire powers. Again a spiral of flames covered the dozens of Heatless that lured in the hallway. Sora was standing with his back toward Mushra, trying to fight the leftover horde. Both the colonel and the lieutenant jumped back when they saw a wave of flames going trough the hallway, followed by pink hearts floating upwards. The Heartless who were already in the hospital wing turned around and with one quick move they stood back in the hallway. The brunette ran a bit towards them before he threw his Keyblade at them. Quickly he ran towards the place the Heartless stood and where his weapon still was making circles in the air. With one smooth jump he took it back again before landing in front of the hospital wing.

"Sora there are more coming!"

"Boy get in here!" A black haired man yelled at Sora.

Sora nodded and gestured to Mushra to follow him.

Both ran as fast as they could into the large room and closed the door. The man and a blonde women were already standing behind a linen closet when Sora closed the door. When the Enterran didn't hear wood moving over the stone floor, he sighed deeply.

**I know the fighting scenes aren't that good but it's the first time for me writing one. ****Next one will be up by the weekend so please wait another day.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	7. The alchemist part three

**I think I'll ad one more part to this chapter but I'm not sure about that. I'll decide when I've written the next chapter.**

**So please enjoy and review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Shinzo, FMA anything by Disney or Square Enix.**

**The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter three: The alchemist part three**

"I'm glad to see there are survivors left in this place." Sora said while he tried to catch his breath.

Carefully the suit of armor laid his brother down on one of the hospital beds. Alphonse had noticed the look on the face of his older sibling when he saw the black creatures coming into the room. Shortly after the lieutenant fired her gun, he passed out.

"And I'm glad to see that you managed to kill those things." The black haired man said.

"I think they know more about them than we do sir." The lieutenant told him.

"There are special ways to defeat them. But now is not the time to explain them." Sora continued.

"He's right we have to get out of the city."

"Leaving the city won't be enough. The Heartless have already taken it over and who knows what else in this world." Mushra told them while he looked out of one of the large windows.

Beneath him he could only see black moving shadows surrounding the building. The Keyblademaster joined him and also took a look down.

"It's too late. We'll never be able to take so many of them down." Sora whispered.

"So what do we think we should do?"

For a moment Sora turned his gaze to the small group of people who looked at the two strangers with a confused look on their faces.

"One thing is for sure. We have to get out of the building and get to the ship as quickly as we can and leave this world." The boy explained.

In the background they could hear claws scrapping at the wooden door.

"What are you talking about?" The man demanded to know.

"I'll explain really fast. Those creatures are called Heartless and they attack people and the world they live in. If everyone is turned into a Heartless they destroy the heart of a world and move on to the next one." Sora explained.

"A world? I still don't understand what you are talking about."

"There is no time to explain, they're going to break down the door anytime now!"

"Mushra you've got a plan yet?"

The enterran nodded.

"We'll tie these sheets together and climb down first."

"That'll take to much time." Sora complained.

"Maybe I've got something that'll get us out." The suit of armor softly said.

"Tell us your plan Al." The colonel told him.

"Taisa I can make a stairs from the wall that'll lead down to the courtyard. I always have my pieces of chalk with me so a transmutation should be a piece of cake."

"Go ahead."

"I didn't exactly follow your plan but if you can make a stairs it will have to go under this window. The Heartless are to focused on the door and don't seem to go near the area under there." Mushra explained while he moved aside for the large suit.

He reached for the small purse he had tied around his thigh and pulled out a piece of chalk. With a lot of sound he kneeled down and started to draw a circle under the window.

"So what are we going to do once we do get down?" Sora asked.

Mushra pulled out a golden colored card and showed it to Sora. The card had a strange shape and an angel like figure was printed on it.

"Once we are in the courtyard I'll use this and clear a path for everyone. Then you'll guide the rest to the ship."

"You sure about that? You did use a lot of magic aren't you exhausted?"

Mushra shot him a smile not noticing the blue light that appeared behind him or the confused faces of the two adults.

"To be honest I am tired but I don't see any other way right now."

"Who is going down firs?" Alphonse asked while he picked up his brother again.

With a soft thump, Mushra landed last on the small field of grass. He could hear something heavy falling in the room they just came from. He looked up at the stairs the person in the suit of armor made.

"We really have to hurry." He whispered.

Again he pulled out his card and threw it in the air. The thin metallic card seemed to change into an orb of light before flying into Mushra's chest with a bow. The moment the orb hit his chest, Mushra's hair turned lighter and his armor changed from orange to golden and a white tunic appeared under it. On his forehead a golden crown was resting and he slowly opened his golden wings. Sora and the other spectators could only watch with an open mouth when he changed.

"Your Guardian form I presume."

Mushra nodded.

"I'll fly out in front of you guys and launch some energy spheres to make a path."

Sora turned around to the group who stood there obviously not understanding what just happened.

"You heard him! Stay right behind me and everything will be alright."

"Taisa?" The lieutenant asked.

"We don't have another chose Hawkeye. These boys know what we are up against."

She nodded and held her weapon firmly in her hands.

Mushra stretched out his arms and watched as a small orb of light grew bigger between his hands. When he thought it was big enough, he threw it in front of him and managed to wipe out a large amount of Heartless. A large piece of the street could be seen and the group started moving. The actions of the Guardian didn't go unnoticed. The black creatures turned their attention towards the fleeing group right after Mushra launched his first sphere.

Again Mushra threw a sphere towards the attacking shadows before flying forward a few meters and repeating the same action of and over again. Sora tried to hold back the remaining Heartless from the rest of the group. Even the lieutenant and the colonel did everything they could even though they know their attacks couldn't do a thing against the black creatures.

After defeating thousands of Heartless, Mushra managed to lead the group to the edge of the city. The moment everyone reached the fields outside of the city, he turned towards it and launched another attack at the creatures that chased them.

"Sora take them to the ship! I'll stay here and fight them!" Mushra yelled.

"I will! Make sure you get back to the ship to!"

It didn't take long before Sora saw the small forest in which he had parked the ship.

He was surprised to see that the forest wasn't overrun with Heartless unlike the city.

"Quick everyone get inside!" He called.

Exhausted and out of breath the colonel and the lieutenant climbed into the strange vehicle. Followed by Alphonse and Sora. At the moment nobody could really care how strange the ship looked. Once inside Sora looked trough the entrance with a worried look on his face.

He waited two minutes…five minutes.

"This is taking to long. You all stay here and I'll go and see if Mushra needs help."

The black haired man reached out to the boy to stop him when a bright light and a loud sound made the boy stop in his tracks.

A moment later Sora saw his traveling companion running towards the ship. He was no longer in his Guardian form and had wounds all over his body.

Quickly Sora ran to the cockpit to prepare the ship for takeoff. The colonel reached out to the enterran and pulled him in. Exhausted Mushra stayed on the floor until he heard the engine roaring and the entrance door closing.

"Are you okay?" A soft women's voice asked.

With much effort he pushed himself up again.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a little tired that's all."

He felt how the airflow around the ship vanished which meant that they left the atmosphere of the planet and where now flying in space again.

"I don't want to be rude but do you have an extra bed where I can put my brother on?" The suit of armor asked.

"Your arms must be tired, you've been carrying him al this time." Sora said while he walked out of the cockpit."

"I'm fine really."

"We haven't had the time to introduce ourselves. My friend over there is Sora and I'm Mushra."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. This is Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and Alphonse Elric. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang." The black haired man told them.

"Come on Alphonse I'll show you a room where you can lay your brother down."

The suit of armor nodded and followed Sora to one of the many doors.

"Mushra why don't you rest to. You look exhausted."

The warrior shook his head.

"I'm fine."

Sora pulled up his shoulders and opened the door to one of the sleeping quarters.

"Are we save now?" Riza asked.

"I think we are for now." Mushra admitted.

"Heartless miss Hawkeye."

"No need for that. Just call me Riza okay."

"What exactly are Heartless?" The colonel asked.

"Creatures who eat people's hearts and the hearts of worlds. At least that's what Sora told me."

"They sound dangerous."

Mushra nodded.

"They take over worlds and change everyone into Heartless before they take over the core of a world. By then it will be too late to save it."

With the sound of metal rubbing against each other, Sora and Al emerged from the room.

"If anyone else likes to take a rest just say so. I've got at least five more free bedrooms." Sora offered.

"Do you have a place where we can just relax?" Roy Mustang asked with a weak smile on his lips.

Sora nodded and gestured them to follow him. Just a meter from where the cockpit was, was a door that Sora opened. Behind it was a rather large room with soft looking couches made of a light red fabric. In the corner of the room stood a bookshelf and an old fashion radio on a small wooden stand.

"You can relax here if you want to. If anyone needs a drink there is some alcohol in the radio."

Mushra looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Cid smuggled some in here."

"Good I need a drink." The colonel stated.

"Make mine a triple sir."

Colonel Mustang looked at the radio and tried to look for something to open it. Then he found a little button that wasn't supposed to be there. Carefully he pressed it and heard something click. He opened the radio and found two, rather small, bottles of rum and four whiskey glasses. Quickly he opened one of the bottles and poured it in two glasses.

"Mushra I'm going back to the cockpit. I three need anything just tell me."

Mushra let himself fall in one of the pilot seats and sighed deeply. He watched the stars that raced past them.

Sora took a seat next to him and pressed one of the many buttons before taking his hands to the wheel.

"What happened back there?" Sora suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Back there when we escaped. We where all here in the ship waiting for you, but when you didn't come back after five minutes I wanted to go look for you. I didn't even jump out of the ship when I was blinded by a bright light. It felt so powerful."

"That was my Heavens Gate attack."

"Mind explaining."

"The Heavens Gate uses almost all of my energy and uses that energy to form an attack. Normally it's my last resort but they had me surrounded."

"So that why it took so long."

"And that's why I came back in my normal form."

"So I assume you are exhausted."

"I can just drop down on the floor and sleep until next week. But I can't rest just now."

Sora looked at him with a questioned look on his face.

"Top priority now is to decide what we should do with our passengers."

"We should drop the colonel and the lieutenant of at a save place." Sora suggested.

"Why only them?"

"The brother of Alphonse is something special I can just feel it. Those two are close and we just have to find out which one is chosen."

"I don't know if Al could be a chosen one but you might be right about his brother. I'll go check up on him before I go and take a little nap."

Sora nodded.

"So where do you want to land to recover?"

"Go straight to Enterra. There is something I need to do there."

"I just hope one of the brothers is chosen." Sora said.

Another sigh escaped from Mushra's body. Sora shot him a smile when he did that.

"Why don't you go take a rest now? We're not in a hurry."

"I know. It almost took four hours to get from Hollow Bastion to that other world."

"Listen up Mushra taking a little break doesn't hurt anyone. Besides we can decide what we should do on Enterra."

Mushra nodded and pushed himself out of his chair.

Slowly he walked down the hallway. Immediately when he walked out of the cockpit he couldn't help but to look into the loungh where the lieutenant and the colonel where quietly drinking. Every once in a while he could hear the lieutenant sigh and glass hitting glass again.

Alphonse silently looked out of one of the windows. Mushra could almost feel his sadness. He figured all three might have found out, that they didn't have a home to return to themselves. At least that was what it looked like to him.

Silently he walked towards the room the blonde boy was sleeping in. He softly knocked on the door before he opened it. His gaze fell on the sleeping teen who moaned softly in his sleep. Sweat rolled of his face and he moved his head like he was having a nightmare.

Slowly Mushra touched his forehead with his fingertips. As soon as his skin touched the boy's moist one, he pulled back his hand. The skin of the boy felt warmer then normal and Mushra now knew where the beads of sweat came from. He had a fever and he was sure it wasn't one that would pass with a days rest. This time a heavy moan left his body before opening his eyes. Slowly he showed his golden eyes and looked at the ceiling before turning his head and meeting a new face.

"So you're finally awake. How do you feel?" Mushra asked.

His mind was still blurry and his vision slowly began to get sharper.

"Like I went to hell and back. How do I look?" He answered.

"Much like you feel." Mushra said with a smile.

The boy managed to grin back and his vision was clear again. Then he noticed the eyes the stranger in front of him had.

"You!" He suddenly yelled terrified.

With strength he never thought he would have right now, he managed to stand on the bed and press himself against the wall. He raised his fist and they shook lightly. Mushra guessed it was because of his fever.

"Calm down I'm not here to hurt you."

"You! You're him. The one I saw."

Mushra looked at him with a questioned face.

"I saw you in the dreams I've been having." He explained.

Mushra looked at the golden eyes of the boy. They held the same tormented look the once in his dreams had.

"Then I have seen you to in the darkness."

"You had the same dream?" He asked while he lowered his fist.

Mushra nodded and the boy let himself fall on his knees. The soft bed bounced as he landed on his knees.

"Listen it's a long story and to be honest I'm really tired right now and you look like you need a weeks worth of sleep yourself."

The grin reappeared on the boys face.

"I haven't been sleeping that good lately. It's probably showing huh."

Again the Enterran nodded.

"So what's your name?" Mushra asked.

"Edward Elric."

Mushra took one of Edward's hands and shook it.

"Pleasure to meet you my name is Mushra."

It was then that Mushra noticed something strange about the hand he was holding but Ed quickly retreated it. Quickly he shook his head and didn't think anything more of it.

"Where is my brother?" Ed suddenly asked.

"You mean Al? He's in another room together with miss Hawkeye and mister Mustang."

"They're here to?"

Mushra nodded and Ed looked around him for the first time.

"I'm not in Central anymore am I?"

**Two chapters in one week! I think I'm going to take a little break from writing this until next month I think. Maybe I'll have another chapter up by the end of the month.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	8. The alchemist part four

**Yes I know it has been long and yes I know it has been over two months. ****But I really needed to take a little break from this and finish an Shinzo art project I've been working on. Sorry for any spelling errors.**

**But I'm back now and with the last part of chapter three. So please read enjoy and review.**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo.**

** The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter three: The alchemist part four**

Mushra shook his head.

"No you are not in Central anymore. But don't worry, we'll take you to a save place."

"A save place? Save for what exactly?" Ed asked.

"The Heartless, those black creatures that attacked you and your friends." The enterran quickly explained.

Edward turned his gaze towards the small window in his room. Outside he could see silver coloured stars flash by. As well as some small planets and huge rocks.

"What happened anyway? I can only remember that everything went black when I saw those things."

"Well the Heartless tried to take over the building you and the others were in. Sora and I tried to find another chosen one on your home world, hoping he or she would still be alive.

We fought our way to the building and found Alphonse the lieutenant the colonel and you."

"I assume you helped us escape."

Mushra nodded again.

"Thank you." The blonde boy said with a weak smile.

"No problem Ed. It's all in a days work. Why don't you go back to sleep we won't reach Enterra until a few more hours."

"Enterra?"

"The world we're taking you to. Yakumo knows a way to cure you."

He stretched his arms above his head and let out a tiring moan.

"I'll get some shuteye as well if you don't mind. Do you want me to wake you when we get there?"

"Yeah sure. Thanks."

Mushra turned around, ready to walk out of the door, until Ed called him to a halt.

"Wait Mushra, just one more thing."

The boy once again turned his face to the one sitting on the bed.

"What did you mean when you said you where looking for the chosen one? And why is Enterra a different world?"

He sighed deeply and took a seat next to Ed on the small bed.

"I might as well tell you everything I know."

Thunder roamed trough the dark sky. A big dark castle stood lonely on one of the hills surrounding the dull area. Remainders of houses that once where part of a city surrounded the castle. Signs of live where nowhere to be seen, apart from the shadows that moved fast between the rubble.

The hallways in the castle where cloaked in darkness. Every few meters a torch would light a small part of the way. A slender figure quickly stepped trough one of those dark, cold hallways. Her body hidden in the shadows until she stopped in front one of the few lit torches. Her face was pale and her dark robes covered everything from her neck to her toes. Most of her head was hidden under a type of head lid. Her slender fingers where clutched around a big staff. A large green orb resting on top of it.

Letting out an evil laugh, she looked at the prison cell in front of her. In there a young boy sat quietly on the cold stone floor. His hands chained to the wall, his eyes looking like he lost all hope.

"It looks like nobody will save you." She said.

"They will. My friends will save me." The boy whispered.

"Admit it Genki, they forgot all about you. Even that boy who tried to warn you couldn't prevent me from capturing you."

"Sora."

"Yes Sora. If you just went with him then she would be here all alone."

Feeling anger rise within him, he looked up to her.

"Let her go. You have me now don't you!"

"That's right and without you the others will never stop me."

"Others?"

"I'm not going to tell."

"Then tell me what you're planning to do with her." He yelled.

She just shot him an evil smile before walking away from the cell.

"You'll find out soon enough Genki." She whispered to herself.

With all his strength he tried to pull at the chains that bound him to the wall. Tears stung his eyes when he finally gave up.

"Holly." He whispered.

"Mushra! Mushra!"

Slowly he opened his eyes. It took him an hour until he finished his story about the prophecy and the Heartless as well as answering the questions Ed had. He felt more tired then he ever felt in his live. Mushra remembered not even bothering to take of his boots when he lied down.

"What?" He asked still half asleep.

"We're back on Enterra." It was Sora's voice who woke him up.

"Already?"

"It's been well over four hours when I saw you going to your bed."

Mushra just moaned tiredly.

"Is Ed up yet?" He asked in a whisper.

"Ed?"

"Alphonse's older brother. The blonde boy you gave the room next to this."

"Did you speak to him?" Sora asked surprised.

"Yeah, I kinda scared him a bit when he first met. He told me he recognised me from the dreams he's been having and I explained everything about the chosen and the Heartless."

"How did he take it? Is he willing to go with us?"

Mushra recalled the conversation they had a little while ago.

"_What do you mean I'm chosen?"_

"_You do really ask a lot of questions."_

"_Sorry, I just want to know why this is happening."_

"_It's okay Ed. Since I've met Sora I've had a lot of questions about this as well. But a lot of them also have been answered. I just know I have to help him in this."_

"_So I guess you want me to help you guys."_

"_Only if you want to but we're going to need your help in the end."_

"_I'll have to think about it. You told me my world, my home, is gone. I don't know if…"_

"_Take your time Ed. Get better first okay."_

"He told me he would think about it. He has to get over the loss of his home right now."

"So you told him that as well."

Mushra nodded.

"Are you sure that he is the chosen one?" Sora asked.

"He said he knew me from his dreams and I recognised him as well."

A moment of silence fell.

"So how are you feeling now?"

"Still tired but not as much as a few hours ago."

"We'll have to find something for you to slay the Heartless with. You can't use magic all the time. Not with it sucking out your energy like this."

"I know."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'll think of something." The Keyblademaster whispered.

"You do that. I'll go and wake up Ed."

He quickly stood up and walked to the room next to his. There he saw Alphonse talking with his brother, who was fully awake.

"I'm sorry Ed. I meant to wake you up sooner."

Edward shook his head.

"No problem. I've slept well and Aru just woke me up."

"So are you feeling a little better?" Mushra asked.

"Still the same as this morning but a little less exhausted."

"So you didn't have any nightmares?" The suit of armour asked.

"Not this time." The boy answered with a smile.

"I'm happy to hear that. How about I show you a piece of Enterra?" Mushra offered.

Both brothers nodded before following the young enterran outside. With shaking legs, Ed managed to get down the small ladder, leading to the ground. He could see the colonel and the lieutenant standing beneath him on the green grass. Both of them were watching a small sign standing in front of a small waterfall. Mushra landed next to Sora with a soft thud.

"Why did you park here?" He asked him.

The Keyblademaster looked at him with a confused look on his face.

"I once had to hang beneath the waterfall."

"Why?"

"Before I met Yakumo, I had to steal and live of the streets."

"So?"

"So I got caught once and I had to hang up there."

"Bummer."

Again a moment of silence fell and Mushra looked at the four who were saved and still alive. Edward seemed to loose his balance when his feet toughed the ground. Both Sora and Mushra looked at him protesting at his little brother carrying him again. His words of protest didn't matter to Al as he scooped his brother up in his arms.

"Don't be ashamed Ed. You probably not strong enough yet to stand on your legs." Sora explained.

"He's right nii-san. Being sick can weaken you."

Both of the young hero's could hear the blond curse under his breath.

"Edward language!" The colonel called.

"Don't worry, Yakumo can make you better in no time."

"Can she really do that?" Sora whispered to Mushra.

"She's capable of much more."

"Yakumo the order for table two is ready!" A happy voice of a woman called.

Quickly she walked towards the kitchen and picked up the two plates of food that stood there. After that she walked to the table where the last two people of the day sat. With a smile she served them their order.

"Enjoy your meal." She said happily.

Outside the orange glow of the setting sun, coloured the sky. It reminded her that it had been two days since Mushra left. Kutal suggested she would get a job to take her mind of him for a while. And there she was in a red waitress uniform, serving food and drinks at a local café. Carefully she walked over to the small bar in the back of the café. A girl wearing a blue waitress uniform served her a glass of red wine.

"Mizuki! We still have to work!" Yakumo whispered.

"The boss left already and there are only two more costumers in here. You've been working hard these past two days and be honest Yakumo, those heels are killing you right?"

She looked at the red pumps she was wearing and smiled.

"Yeah these things are not made for this job."

She took a sip of the red liquid.

At that moment the front door opened and both girls turned their gaze towards it. Again a smile appeared when she saw who stood there.

"When Kutal told me that you worked here, I was kind of surprised."

Yakumo looked at him with a questioned face before she noticed the group of people standing behind him. Edward seemed to have dozed of in Al's arms again.

"I would have to find a job sooner or later." She stated.

Mushra felt his heart beat faster and a light blush creeping up to his cheeks.

"I assume you're not staying long."

"No I'm not but we need your help with something and I have to ask the elders some questions."

"So that is the reason you came back." She said in a sad voice.

He shook his head.

"You're another reason to come back Yakumo. I missed you."

A light blush appeared on her cheeks.

"So can you help us?" Sora asked.

"With what?"

"You see a friend of ours has a high fever, but we're pretty sure he's a chosen one. Could you at least take away his fever?" Mushra asked her.

"I doubt if she can do that." The colonel whispered to Al.

"I don't think that would be a problem. Mizuki is it okay if I leave?"

She turned around to the girl behind the bar.

"No go ahead I'll clean up."

She smiled gratefully to her before leading the group outside.

"Home?" She asked Mushra.

He nodded, knowing it would be the safest place right now.

Alphonse carefully laid his brother on the leather sofa in the living room. Edward had trouble breathing and sweat rolled of his face. Everyone noticed that his fever was getting worse. Colonel Mustang gently placed a wet cloth on the boy's forhead. Next to him, on a small table, stood a glass bowl, filled with cold water.

Mushra carefully placed a hand on Yakumo's shoulder.

"You think you can handle this alone?" He asked her.

"No problem. Just come back soon okay."

He quickly pulled her down for a light kiss before going to the back yard. Again he pulled out the Celestial card, ready to go. A bright light filled the back yard. When it disappeared he opened up his wings and took of to the sky. Back to Shinzo, the realm he was born.

In the meantime Yakumo found herself busy making preparations to take away Ed's fever.

Sora sat next to Alphonse, who seemed worried about his big brother.

"So." Sora started.

He imideatly got his attention.

"So what did you and your brother do back home?"

"We're alchemist."

"Alchemist?" Sora asked.

** I'm already working on the next chapter so I hope it will be up within the next two weeks.**

**Thank you for reading.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	9. The angels of light

**I know it's been a while but here is the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Shinzo, Monster Rancher, Fullmetal alchemist and anything Disney related. Sorry for any grammar errors.**

** The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter four: The angels of light.**

He landed on the moist grass with a soft thud. Everything seemed to be exactly like it was the last time he'd been there. The trees around him carried soft, pink blossoms. Between the branches you could see the golden fruits sparkle in the sunlight. The sky looked clear blue like it always had been and a few clouds hung around the towers of the Celestial temple. The big building towered above everything else that was part of the Celestial world. Above his head he could see large, winged creatures fly over, followed by smaller versions of the animal.

"The Celestial dragons must have had their young ones already." He whispered to himself.

The scaled reptiles had an unusual white colour from head to toe. Their neck was long and graceful as was the strong tail they had. White phoenix-like birds flew past him in a large group. Mushra look at the direction which they came from and noticed a small young dragon chasing after them. He found it odd that the creature wasn't soaring trough the sky like the other young dragon hatchlings did.

He crouched down and tried to get the animals attention.

"Come one little one. I won't hurt you." He softly said.

With a soft purring sound the little dragon came running towards him. At that moment Mushra noticed one of the creatures wings stood in a strange position.

"So you've hurt your wing."

Again the young dragon let out a happy purring sound.

"Let's go little one. I'll bring you to the stables."

He didn't expect it to understand him and he was surprised to see the little thing run after him. A white stone building stood lonely beside the large temple. Mushra remembered that the dragons slept there and were taken care of when needed. He hoped someone was able to help the wounded dragon.

"Is anyone here?" he called out.

"In the back sweetheart." The voice of a woman answered.

Hearing the voice almost made his heart leap of joy.

He quickly walked to the back of the stables and found a young woman with long purple hair, wearing a long white dress that stuck out from under the golden breastplate she was wearing. On her forehead rested a delicate, small, golden tiara.

"Mom." Mushra whispered.

He couldn't help himself. His legs seemed to run towards her on their own, right into her open arms. The broom she was holding fell towards the ground as she pressed his body against her own. Tears streamed down her face and Mushra tried to hold back the urge to do the same.

"Mushra, Mushra, Mushra." She whispered softly.

"Mom I've missed you." He told her when he pulled back from her embrace.

"My darling it's been so long."

"Four years."

"Has it been four years already?" The woman whispered almost silently.

"I'm sorry I didn't stay so long last time." Mushra apologized.

"It's alright dear. I understand you wanted to be with your friends."

"It's not only that mom."

A feeling of guilt ran trough him but a part of him had to tell her why he wanted to go back.

"When Yakumo died, my heart died with her and I know I brought her soul to the other realm…but I just couldn't stay here."

"You know you could have visited her soul anytime you wanted right."

"You don't understand mom. Visiting her soul wouldn't be real. I couldn't touch her anymore or show her the most beautiful places on Enterra. I knew I had to leave her behind and get on with my live. But it's been so hard."

"Because you still loved her."

She looked at him with a look of understanding.

"I understand Mushra. That's why the council decided to give her life again. She deserved it and you wouldn't be miserable anymore my dear." She continued.

"So that took three years."

"These sort of things take time you know that."

"I don't get this whole application system we have here. It didn't take three years when I volunteered to put Lanancuras in a rock." He told her with an angry face.

"You should discuss that with your grandfather love."

The small dragon hatchling, rubbed his head against Mushra's legs, letting Mushra remember why he was here.

"Mom I stumbled upon this wounded, little, dragon. Could you take care of his wing?"

Again the woman pulled her son into another hug.

"Of course sweetie. Why don't you keep your grandfather company and I'll take care of this little one."

"Thank you mom. I was planning to visit gramps in the first place. There is something I need to ask him."

He quickly gave his mother a kiss on her cheek, before turning towards the door. He noticed the little creature following him again. He turned around before walking out of the stable and faced the dragon.

"Stay here okay. She'll help you fix your wing." He pointed toward the young mother standing in the back of the building.

A small growl left the animal before Mushra turned around and left the stable with a smile on his face.

Anyone who would meet his mother for the first time would not have guessed that she was more then two-thousand years old. Guardians only age one year after every hundred years that passed on Enterra. Mushra himself was well over fiveteen-hundred years when he first left the Celestial realm.

After that he found himself aging just like every other normal Enterran. Slowly he walked up the steps of the giant temple. Once inside he noticed nothing had changed inside as well.

A big round hall was lighted by small, floating, glowing orbs. He always wondered how they kept floating closely to the wall. The marble floor seemed to reflect everything standing in the room. Several older looking Guardians walked quickly past him. They seemed to be busy talking about something. Mushra decided to waist no time looking for his grandfather and held up the first elder that crossed his path.

"Excuse me Elder."

The older man stopped walking and looked up from the parchment he was reading.

"Do you know where my grandfather is?" Mushra asked.

A smile appeared on the face of the older man. He seemed to recognize Mushra, but who didn't after everything he did.

"But of course Mushra my boy. I saw your grandfather in his office just a few minutes ago."

The young Guardian bowed.

"Thank you Elder."

Quickly he ran up de large marble stairs. He knew the chambers of the Wise ones where on the top of the temple. Once in the top, he found what he was looking for. Carefully Mushra knocked on the wooden door and waited until he heard a deep voice telling him to come in.

"Gramps?" he asked.

A short old man with a long white beard turned around to face him. His eyes where clear blue and the golden wings most Guardians had where no longer there. A smile appeared on the face of the old man.

"Mushra!"

"Gramps!" He called out once again before carefully hugging his grandfather.

"Mushra my dear boy. Why do I owe this visit."

"I'm afraid this is not a social call gramps."

"I thought so. Alright how can I help you?"

"Well there is this meteor that comes around every five-hundred years and travels past different worlds. That must mean that that same meteor appeared five-hundred years ago."

"Most meteors of that type do that." The older man smiled.

"I know but there is also this prophecy that says the core of this meteorite is made out of pure darkness. Now these creatures called heartless are after it."

"The star of Abis."

"Is it called that?" Mushra asked.

His grandfather nodded.

"Well anyway gramps, there are also these chosen ones who are supposed to stop the heartless. I'm one of these chosen ones and since you've been around for so long I was wondering if you could remember what happened last time."

"So the torch has finally been passed."

"What do you mean grandpa?"

"Over three-thousand years ago the star of Abis was made by five powerful dragons and five mighty creatures coming from different worlds. The star was meant to bring balance in the universe."

"Meaning it wasn't meant to be filled with darkness."

"One of those mighty creatures, a devil, used the power of the angels the moment the star was created. Which meant the star was filled with the strong darkness the devil gave it."

"So the star of Abis wasn't in balance?"

"Right. So the meteor came to be filled with a dark power. At least for the biggest part."

"And the heartless?" Mushra asked.

"As far as I know the heartless appeared three years ago for the first time but more then one have tried to tame the power in the star of Abis."

"Like the heartless are trying now."

"The heartless are always controlled by someone else. Just like five-hundred years ago."

"What happened back then? Was I on Enterra?"

Mushra hoped he would get the answer he needed soon.

"Five-hundred years ago the star of Abis once again flew past every world. I sought out the other chosen ones and managed to stop Lunaria from taming the power of the meteorite. She was going to use it to free Lanancuras as you wouldn't have guessed it already."

"How did she wanted to do that?"

"The angels of light are the key somehow. I never figured it out how exactly."

"So you've been one of the chosen ones gramps! And those angels of light, are they connected with every one of us? Just like the chosen ones are."

"Yes, yes. The angels are pure of heart and soul and are close to us."

"Which means Yakumo could be one of the angels! Just like Holly, that's why she's been taken as well." Mushra exclaimed.

"You're not a detective for nothing." The old man smiled.

"I have to go back…I have to go now."

"Wait before you go I want to give you something."

The Guardian who already was on his way towards the exit turned around.

"You might have noticed that your spear does not hurt the heartless."

"How did you know?"

"Our normal spears can't cut trough eternal darkness. The darkness the heartless are made of." The older man explained.

Slowly the old Guardian walked toward a closet. He pulled open the heavy doors and pulled out a spear. The spear was engraved with strange markings on the blade and the handle.

"This weapon was made by the first dragon that arrived in our realm. The same dragon that helped your great-grandfather to make the star of Abis. This weapon will help you defeat the heartless."

"Thank you gramps."

Mushra said while he took the weapon from the old Guardian.

He bowed deeply before turning towards the door.

"Go Mushra. Make sure Yakumo is save my boy."

**Next chapter will be up next week! There is some art going with this chapter the link to my deviantart page is in my profile so check it out if you want to. The picture is called Celestial Guardian.**

**Please press that lonely review button under here.**

**-mogwai1988-**


	10. Return to Hollow Bastion

**Yeah chapter five:D Please read, enjoy and review! Sorry for any grammar errors.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts, Monster Rancher, FMA, anything square enix related and anything Disney related.**

** The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter ****five: Return to Hollow Bastion.**

Mushra landed with a soft thud back in his back-yard. Slowly he placed his right hand on his chest. A bright light emerged from his chest for a few seconds, before he held his Guardian card back in his hand. The spear his grandfather gave him, was clutched in his other hand.

The possibility that Yakumo might be in danger, made his legs feel weaker by the second. He hoped that, whoever controlled the Heartless, wouldn't find her. But he knew his prayers wouldn't be answered this time.

"Mushra you're back." Sora called out when he noticed the warrior walk in.

Immediately they noticed that his face stood gloomy.

"What's wrong?" Yakumo asked.

"Well I just found out that, to tame the dark power of the meteorite, the power of the angels of light is needed."

"The angels of light?" Edward suddenly asked.

The face of the young boy was full of live again. His eyes where clear and it was obvious that Yakumo succeeded to pull the fever out of him. The black little plant on the table made it all clear for him.

"Holly was one of the angels. That's why she's been taken away by the heartless. Whoever controls the Heartless needs her." Mushra continued.

"So those things are taking orders!" The colonel said with a hint of fright in his voice.

Mushra nodded.

"There is just one other thing. The star of Abis was originally made to restore balance in the universe every five-hundred years. When the star was made, a devil put in all his dark power and that's why the meteorite is filled with darkness."

"And the angels. How do they play a part in this?" The blonde alchemist asked.

"Their combined power can tame the darkness in the star of Abis. I don't know how they do it, but I do know they are connected to each of the chosen ones."

"That's why Holly and Genki where taken together!"

"Right and that's why I want you to stay with Kutal until this is over Yakumo."

"Do you think I'm next?" She asked.

"I'm almost positive you're one of the angels my love."

"Mushra just think for a second." Sora started.

"If you're sure that she's one of the angels, might it be a better idea to take her to Hollow Bastion. The Heartless could find her in no time if we just leave her here and to be honest, I don't think your friends can defeat them."

"Sora is right. If those things will run over the town, just like what happened to Central, they'll find her in no time. Taking her to another world would at least slim down the changes of them finding her." Edward proposed.

"Leon, Yuffie and the others have far more experience with the Heartless. They can protect and look after Yakumo when we're gone." Sora told him.

Mushra thought deeply for a second, before turning his gaze towards the human girl.

"This is the safest way to protect you Yakumo. But you'll have to want it as well."

"I don't know." She whispered softly.

"Listen this is not only for you. When the Heartless find out that you're not here, they won't attack Enterra."

A small smile appeared on her face, but Mushra could still read the concern on her face.

"Alright, I'll come with you guys." She finally said.

"Great! We'll set you guys of in Hollow Bastion as well." Sora said while turning towards the black haired colonel and the blonde lieutenant.

"So I assume you two are going to need my help with those Heartless." Edward said.

"So you're going to help us?" Mushra asked with a happy voice.

The blonde boy nodded.

"I've been thinking about it for a few hours now. I want to help you guys to defeat the Heartless, but I won't leave Aru behind."

"But of course." Both Sora and Mushra said.

"I want to help to as much as I can." Alphonse told them.

His voice sounded desperate, like he was afraid to be parted with his brother.

"What do you think Sora? A little extra help never hurts right?"

The brunette nodded with a smile.

"Yakumo go and pack everything you need. I'll give Kutal and Sago a ring and tell them everything."

The human girl nodded before quickly walking towards the bedroom. While packing her clothes, Mushra picked up the receiver and dialled Kutal's number.

"The universe is just as beautiful as I can remember." Yakumo sighed while looking out the small window in Mushra's room on the ship.

"Still not as gorgeous as you are."

A blush crept up to her cheeks when she heard his compliment.

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true and that will never change."

Before he knew it he felt two arms clinging around his neck. The soft cheek of Yakumo pressed against his.

"I love you. You always seem to cheer me up, even in these times."

"I love you to Yakumo."

"What's Hollow Bastion like anyway?" She asked out of the blue.

"It's a nice place, but there isn't much green around. It kinda looks like the whole city is built in a ravine."

"A ravine?"

"That's what it looks like. But I didn't get to stay as long the first time, so I didn't get to see a lot of it."

In the hallway he heard someone walking towards the room they where in. His steps where far from quit and Mushra recognized them almost immediately.

Alphonse appeared almost right away in the doorpost of the small room.

"Sora told me we'll be landing soon. I thought you wanted to know."

"Thank you Al. We'll be there in a minute."

Yakumo shot him a friendly smile.

Yuffie went trough the book with an angry face. She turned the yellow pages as fast as she could. The desk she sat on was covered in stacks of books and scrolls, which seemed to have been unread for at least a hundred years.

"Nothing, nothing and again nothing!" She yelled in frustration.

Like last time she wasn't alone in the large library. Leon stood just a few meters away from the desk Yuffie sat on. Her screams of frustration earned her a crocked eyebrow from him.

"Leon did you find anything yet?" she asked.

With a sigh he put back the book he was studying.

"Nothing about the prophecy or what could be inside of the meteor."

"My guess is that it would be a dark creature." The young ninja said.

"I think the lost part of the prophecy would make that clear. I we could only find it, maybe it has some info on how to stop the Heartless."

Carefully he opened the door toward the library. Followed by the others, Sora quietly walked in.

"Yuffie, Leon anyone here!" He called out.

Hearing the Keyblademaster call made Yuffie jump from her seat and running towards the first hall of the library.

"Sora, Mushra!" She yelled happily.

Her smile faded slowly when she noticed the crowed behind the two chosen warriors.

"Who are these people?" She asked.

"Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, Colonel Roy Mustang, Edward Elric and his little brother Alphonse. We've managed to save them from the last world we've visited." Sora explained.

"We figured it would be save here for them." Mushra continued.

"So Tranverse Garden is becoming a second Traverse Town." Leon stated.

Sora just smiled.

"Only for Yakumo, Miss Hawkeye and Mister Mustang. Ed is one of the chosen so he'll be travelling with us."

"Yakumo will be staying here because she's one of the angels of light. Whoever controls the Heartless needs her to tame the dark power within the meteor." Mushra explained.

"Power? I thought it was a dark creature that lingered within that rock." Yuffie asked.

"My great-grandfather was the one who helped make the star of Abis. My grandpa has been one of the chosen that prevented the last few times, that the dark power was tamed."

"We're talking about a dark power now, not a creature." Leon said.

Mushra nodded before he continued.

"Gramps told me that, that power can be tamed when the Angels of light come together. That's why Holly was kidnapped."

"Is the prophecy still right then?" the young ninja girl asked.

"Yuffie you don't have to take that piece of paper literally. The energy in the meteor must have been described as a creature by the writer of the prophecy."

"No wait Leon. I might have a theory on that. It could be that someone sacrificed himself to become the star of Abis." Mushra explained.

"It wouldn't be the first time that someone is in a meteorite." Yakumo softly said.

"It could be possible that the writer of the prophecy knew al this."

"How big is the change that he did know?" Edward wondered out loud.

"Listen what you have to do now is to look for the other chosen ones and find out who's behind the Heartless." Leon told the group.

"Don't forget we'll have to protect the Angels of light if we meet them." Sora mumbled.

"Would Kairi be…?" He whispered to himself.

"Did you say something Sora?" Edward asked.

A little startled the Keyblademaster turned towards the young boy.

"I was just thinking deeply."

"You guys might want to stay here. It's getting dark soon and that's no time to start looking for the chosen ones again."

Ed stretched his arms above his head. A smile appeared on his face after hearing Leon's proposition.

"We'd better do that. It's no use looking at this time of day, besides we all should get some rest." Sora concluded.

"Any idea on where we could sleep?" The colonel asked.

"I know! Follow me!" Yuffie almost screamed with enthusiasm.

Black beady eyes, shimmered in the light of the setting sun. The stone gargoyle he stood on was still warm from the day. Curious he looked toward the scene below him. He saw the boy trough the coloured glass, accompanied by a group of people.

He held his beady eyes on their lips, studying them as they talked. He sat there until the boy walked out of the room below him, followed by the group he brought with him.

He let out a happy screech towards the sky, which slowly filled with thunderclouds. He opened his black wings and took of into the evening sky, towards the approaching storm. It didn't take long until he found himself between the dark clouds and disappeared between the thick mass. A flicker of light was appeared between the clouds and the raven did not emerge from the storm.

The long, fragile women passed quickly in a stone chamber. In the middle of the chamber stood a throne, totally carved out of the same stone that the walls where made of. A soft satin pillow rested on the stone chair.

Hearing the bird screech made the woman stop in her tracks and a smile appeared on her lips. She slowly extended her arm towards the open door of the room, seeing the bird flying towards her. Carefully the animal landed on the thin arm and shuffled quickly towards her shoulder.

"Tell me what you've seen my pet." She ordered.

The raven softly screeched in her ear, telling her everything he had seen.

"So there are three of them now and they've moved an Angel to Hollow Bastion."

The bird screamed loudly, confirming her short version of his story.

"Then it's clear what I must do."

An evil smile appeared on her face.

**And that was chapter five! Until next time.**


	11. The protectors of the heart

**Okay so since the last two chapters I haven't gotten anymore reviews for this story. Not even flames or bad onces which I don't mind getting as long as it's advance critics. That's why I'm setting up a review limit which means no chapter update anymore until I've got at least 2 reviews per chapter starting now.**

**You all might understand that writing such a long story can be hard if nobody gave you a feedback for the last two updates. Alright enough ranting on with chapter six the first part.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shinzo, Kh, FMA, anything disney or squar enix.**

**The brotherhood of heroes.**

**Chapter six: The protectors of the heart.**

Talking excitedly to Alphonse, Yuffie led the way towards the small house owned by Merlin. Mushra kept walking next to Yakumo, looking around him with a sceptical look on his face.

"Do you feel it to?" She asked in a whisper.

"Yeah. I can feel the darkness around us. It's multiplying so it could be the Heartless." Mushra replied.

"What if they attack?"

"I don't think they will. There are too many of us right now they rather wait until we're alone."

The group was closed by Leon and Sora who had a look of worry on their faces. They also noticed the presence of the dark creatures and both held a watchful eye on the people in front of them.

"Leon." Sora suddenly started.

"What?" was the reply.

"What if Kairi is one of these angels?"

"Do you think she is?" Leon asked.

"That exactly it. I don't know if she's one. I've only got this strong feeling about where we can find the last chosen one."

"Maybe Mushra would know. He seems absolutely sure that Yakumo is one of the angels."

"He's completely convinced that she's one and I have to admit that she seem to send out something that is rather special."

"I can ask Cid if he would bring Kairi here. Just to be save."

Grateful the boy looked at Leon, a smile appearing on his face.

"I'd be happy if you would."

The small house seemed to shrink once the large group was inside. Yakumo looked interested at the way the room was divided. Technology on the right and a mountain of books on the left.

"This tastes really excellent Aerith!"

The longhaired brunette smiled friendly at the old wizard.

The Celestial Guardian slowly took another bite and found himself staring at Ed the same time. The blonde ate with an incredible speed and Mushra noticed that Al turned down every type of food and drinks that were offered to him.

"No thank you miss Aerith. I'm not that hungry."

Hearing al say that made Ed look gloomy and guilty at the same time. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by Mushra and he wondered why the blonde was wearing that look on his face. Again the enterran took another bite of his food.

"So what did you discover during your previous journey?" The wizard asked.

Mushra and Sora told him everything they knew about the star of Abis and the Angels of light.

"I wish we knew who the Angels are and how many there are." Edward mumbled with his mouth full.

"The prophecy talked about five chosen ones, it seems logical that there are five Angels." Sora concluded.

"That doesn't have to be so. Gramps told me the Angels are connected to us but he didn't tell me how many there are. They could be someone we know well, but it can also be someone we just spoke to or even just see."

"I guess that's the next thing we have to find out."

"Don't forget we have to find the last chosen one and save Genki as well." Mushra added.

"Whoever is behind all of this must know that we need him. He'll probably be waiting for us."

"How about we start by finding the last chosen one. Maybe he knows something about the Angels or the prophecy. As soon as we know where Genki is being held we'll go and rescue him before we hurry out and go back to safety." Edward proposed.

"I'll bet Holly is being held in the same place as Genki. If we could just keep the Angels save until the meteor passes. Then the danger will be gone for another five-hundred years."

"Then there will be no end to the prophecy. Every time someone can try to tame the power within it. If we can destroy the star we'll have to take that change."

Mushra quickly took another sip of his water. At that moment Edward noticed the old wizard staring at him.

"Is something wrong old man?" Ed asked.

"The mark that you two are wearing. You're alchemist right?"

Hearing that made the last bite of food Ed took go down the wrong way. His face turned red as he coughed loudly. Quickly Mushra walked towards him and hit his back a couple of times. Aerith gave him another glass of water. It didn't take long before Ed raised his hand letting everyone know he was alright again.

"Don't scare us like that again Edward." The colonel said with a worried and scared face.

Slowly the man took his seat again, watching the face of the young boy return to his normal colour.

"How did you know?" Alphonse asked.

"Like I said by the mark you are wearing."

"It's the mark our sensei gave to us. She thought us everything we know." Al explained.

"Did she tell you that it's called a flamel?" The wizard asked him.

Alphonse shook his head.

"The cross that's mixed with a snake or snakes is the mark of the alchemists."

"What's an alchemist?" Mushra asked.

"An alchemist is a scientist who uses the elements around him and transmutes them with a transmutation circle." Alphonse explained.

"There are rules that we must follow though. The law of equivalent exchange is the most important one. You can't make something that isn't equal to the materials you use. For example, we can fix a broken plate but we can't make it bigger without making the porcelain thinner." Edward explained.

"So your result has to be the same as your input?" Mushra asked.

Edward nodded to him with a smile. Letting the enterran know that he understood the principle of equivalent exchange.

"If that's true then you can make a human body with the right ingredients." Sora noticed.

Again Ed's face turned gloomy and even Al let his head down.

"That is something that's forbidden in our world because no alchemist ever succeeded in performing a flawless human transmutation." Colonel Mustang explained.

Mushra only half listened to the explanation of the black haired man. He was worried about Ed and Alphonse and was just about to ask if they were feeling alright. Suddenly a loud roar went trough the sky. Shortly after the door swung open and a young man with blue eyes and spiky blond hair rushed in.

"Cloud." Aerith exclaimed.

"There is a black dragon out there with a bunch of Heartless coming with it." He told everyone.

The man who just entered the room seemed strangely calm toward the whole situation. Another roar was heard as Sora stood up from the table.

"Let's take a look and stop that dragon." He said.

Mushra nodded and he and the two brothers stood up.

"Just leave everything to us. Stay here and wait for us okay."

"No way Sora. We're coming with you." Yuffie objected.

"She's right, we'll take the Heartless and you guys handle that dragon." Leon proposed.

A bright light appeared as Sora summoned his weapon.

"Let's go!"

With clear blue eyes the dragon looked at her surroundings. Black creatures circled around her, making sure she was protected. She looked down to the ground with the movements of a lost child, her eyes looked confused. Something within her wanted to tear apart the group of humans that ran towards her. Another part of her knew she wasn't supposed to hurt the chosen ones.

She didn't know why she was roaming the town, or how she got there. The crest of the Heartless was printed on her belly, her large red wings were spread as wide as she could, making a few holes in some of the rooftops she passed.

"Something feels different." Mushra whispered.

"That thing is huge!"

"Sora we have to let it trip. Once it's on the ground it won't be able to get up that fast, that's when we attack." The enterran called out.

Sora nodded.

"Guys lure it our way, we can make it fall down easily."

Both of the heroes nodded towards Edward and watched as the brothers ran a few meters away from the dragon. It didn't take long before the creatures noticed the two running and started their attack on the two brothers.

With quick movements Ed managed to doge the creatures coming at him. Alphonse tried his best to throw them against the nearest wall. Mushra reached out with both hands in front of him. With one movement he summoned the engraved spear his grandfather gave him.

He wasted no time and launched himself at the Heartless that were in his way.

Within seconds the spear pierced through the little dark bodies and released pink hearts.

His grandfather was right about the spear.

**A little short I know...kinda of a cliffie I know. But there is some art going with this, the link is in my profile. I'm also planning to make an ad for this and put it on Youtube once it's done. I'll tell everyone when that's done.**

**Please review. :)**

**mogwai1988**


	12. The protectors of the heart part two

**AN: After writing a couple of chapters in Dutch again, I got stuck and in the end turned towards a plot ladder. Right now I've got over one hundred pages written in Dutch and I don't want to stretch out this story to much so I hope to see an end soon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Monster rancher, FMA, Shinzo, Spyro the dragon, Anything Disney or Square Enix related.**

**Protectors of the heart: Part two.**

With ease he pushed his way towards gigantic beast in front of him. He heard the sound of footsteps right behind him, letting him know that Sora was right on his tail.

"That thing doesn't look to friendly." The Keyblademaster noticed.

Mushra nodded in agreement.

"We'll have to attack it to get its attention." He suggested.

Before Sora could protest against the Enterran's plan, Mushra already had jumped towards the beast, ready to get its attention. All the power in his legs seemed to vanish when he landed on one of the small roofs that surrounded the dragon. With pleading yellow eyes it looked at the young Enterran. That look was enough for Mushra to doubt his planned attack.

Why would it look so lost and sad at him? Why didn't it attack anyone yet? Questions kept running trough his head until he heard Sora yell at him.

"Mushra don't just stand there! Ed and Al can't hold on much longer!"

He looked at the direction where the two brothers where fighting the horde of Heartless surrounding them. Alphonse looked like he was almost covered with the black creatures. Edward seemed to find it a bit easier to fight them off with the he had weapon in his hand. Almost immediately he wondered where the blonde boy had gotten the blade he now wielded. A small voice inside of him made clear that that was not his first concern at the moment.

Again the dragon roared into the skies, letting out a roar that sounded more like a howl. Mushra was sure about it now. Something was wrong with the beast before him.

"Mushra!" Sora yelled again.

"Something is wrong!" He yelled back.

"Not now, you have to attack!"

He sighed deeply before deciding that attacking the beast seemed the right thing to do, even though it looked so lost and sad. Mushra tightened the grip around his spear and jumped from the roof toward the belly of the dragon, making a deep cut across the heartless crest.

What he then saw made his heart stop for a few seconds. Trough the opening he made, he could see the shadow of a smaller black creature inside the large dragon. A creature that didn't look like any Heartless he had met so far. He didn't have much time to take a close look. As fast as he made the opening, he witnessed it close.

"Sora!" Mushra called out.

"I saw it! What do you think is inside that thing?"

"I don't know, but go help Ed and Al. I'm going to try and get it out."

Sora nodded and ran towards the brothers to aid them. For the second time, Mushra pulled out his Guardian card and threw it up in the air. Within moments he had changed back into his Celestial form, golden wings shining in the light of the setting sun.

He pushed himself from the ground and opened his attack on the creature, making another cut across its chest. The Guardian quickly flew up and dived in the hollow space within the Heartless, before the wound closed.

The light that came from the outside disappeared almost immediately.

"Light." He whispered.

A sphere of light appeared, floating above the right hand he had stretched out in front of him. The weak light that came from it, was enough for him to see his surroundings and to see where the small creature he'd seen was.

A few meters before him floated a smaller version of the dragon that was attacking Radiant Garden at the moment. The horns of the female dragon where a lot smaller and Mushra could see tearstains on her black scales. She seemed to be held into the air by black strings that where attached to the larger Heartless body.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out." He whispered to the creature.

With a couple of swings with his spear, he cut the strings holding the little creature. He managed to catch her before she hit the ground. He noticed how his surroundings began to change and turn into black smoke. It didn't take long before Mushra could see daylight again and see the large dragon dissolve. Beneath him the small army of Heartless ran away from battle.

Carefully he landed on the ground and looked at the sleeping creature in his arms. Yuffie was the first one that came running towards him.

"Why did you think they left?" She asked him.

"Why would you think I would know? Maybe they thought they couldn't win without the dragon."

"Did you get it?" Sora asked while he and the Elric brothers came running towards him.

Mushra nodded.

"Are any of you hurt?" The Guardian asked his companions.

"Don't worry, Aru and myself can handle a couple of blows." The older alchemist ensured him with a smile.

"I'll have to admit these two are excellent fighters." Leon told the brothers.

"We've had a good teacher." Alphonse admitted.

"Well, what should we do with that thing?" The ninja girl suddenly asked pointing at the sleeping dragon.

"Let's take her to Merlin, he might know where she came from."

"She?"

"Trust me Sora I've been around dragons before. This one is a she." Mushra told him with a smile while he changed back to his normal self.

The moment Sora walked into the small house again, he knew the atmosphere was different. Everyone in the room had a look of guilt on their face, a look that made clear something terrible had happened.

"Merlin what happened here?"

The once so neatly stacked books, where now scattered around the wooden floor. Burn marks graced the formally white walls and Cid computer looked like it belonged on the scrap heap.

"Where is Yakumo!" Mushra asked after noticing her absence.

"They where just too many of them. We tried to stop them, we really tried." Aerith told him with tears in her eyes.

"They took her away. We could only look while the Heartless attacked us. We're sorry Mushra."

"Don't be Cid. You guys must have done all you could and I thought Yakumo would be saver here then back home but she's a strong girl. She'll be alright."

While he said that he couldn't stop the tears form running down his cheeks.

"So that's why the Heartless retreated. They where just a distraction so they could kidnap Yakumo." Ed noticed.

"Don't worry Mushra. We'll find Yakumo and the others and save her." Sora ensured the Enterran.

The movement of the little dragon in his arms turned back his attention towards her. Slowly she opened her eyes that turned out to be clear grey.

"Where am I?" She asked.

Startled Sora jumped backwards and the two alchemists seemed just as startled as the Keyblademaster.

"A talking chimera?" Alphonse said with a sound of surprise.

"A what?" Was Sora reply.

"An animal combined with several animals trough alchemy." The older Elric explained.

"Dragons are different Edward. They're born not created." Mushra explained.

"Where am I?" The dragon asked again.

"You're in Radiant Garden little one." The fire Enterran answered.

"Where's that?"

"Somewhere in the universe."

"You must be far from home." The ninja girl said.

"I think so. Would you mind putting me down?"

Mushra nodded before putting the dragon down on the wooden floor.

"What's your name?" He asked with a soft voice.

"Cynder." The black creature answered.

"Nice to meet you Cynder. My name is Mushra and these are my friends."

The dragon looked around her with a look of confusion on her face.

"You have got a lot of friends." She said.

After that comment all Mushra could hear was laughter. Making the pain in his heart soften a bit.

"Can you tell us what happened? How did you get here?" Yuffie suddenly asked.

"I remember that I was playing with a friend of mine outside of the dragon temple. Then these weird looking monkey's came and took me and my friend to a large castle. I remember the cage I was looked in and the scary women who pulled me out. After that everything went black."

"Monkey's?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, they had this strange mark on their stomach. I've never seen them around before." Cynder confessed.

"As you might have noticed, Heartless come in different forms. As far as I know there are four types of Heartless shaped like an ape or monkey." Merlin explained.

"What is bugging me is why the Heartless took Cynder in the first place. I thought they where only after the angels?" The blonde alchemist noticed.

"It must have something to do about how the star of Abis was made. My grandfather told me five dragons where involved in creating it." Mushra explained.

"Leon we should go back to the library and get some info about these dragons."

Before the young man could complain, he was dragged out of the house by the ninja girl.

"Does Ansem's computer have any information about the star?" Sora asked Cid.

"I'll be sure to take a look at that."

"Tell Tron I said hi, okay."

"So what are the plans?" The suit of armor asked the group.

"It's getting pretty late. Let's get some rest and try to find the last chosen one in the morning."

"Maybe we should help clean this place up first." Ed wondered.

"Edward could you take care of the burn marks?" The colonel suddenly asked.

"There is no doubt that's your doing Mustang."

"Of course it is. Now get to work and that's an order."

Edward saluted but not before sticking out his tongue to his superior. Mushra couldn't sleep that night. Thoughts about what could happen to his beloved Yakumo kept haunting trough his mind.

Genki shot an angry look at the fat, black cat that walked towards his cell with a tray in his hands. On the tray lay old looking bread and a tin mug. The cat shot back an evenly angry look at the boy before shoving the food under and opening in the barred door.

"Wait Pete!" Genki called before the cat could walk away.

"What do you want?"

"I've got a proposition for her. If she releases me, I'll make sure they won't find the other angels and chosen ones."

"You know who the angels are?"

The young boy nodded.

"I'll tell her."

Before Pete was out of range, the young boy shouted something at the cat.

"Also tell her, that she can keep Holly. As long as I can be free again, I'll help her."

A grin spread on the cat's face.

"I'll be sure to pass that message Genki."

Genki closed his eyes and sighed. He leaned back against the wall he was chained to.

"I hope your plan will work Spyro."

"At least you'll be free and you can tell the others about her plans."

A small shadow moved from the corner of the dark cell. The sound of metal chains scrapping across the floor was heard.

"I'll save you Holly, just hold on a little longer." The boy whispered.

**So for those who have some questions, feel free to ask. ****Sorry again for any grammar errors that might be in here.**

**Also I****'m really busy finishing this story in Dutch and I will be uploading and translating again when I've written the end.**


	13. The devil of Magdalene part one

**Yep this baby is back on the road again. Sorry for the delay and such and I really wanted to upload this chapter last sunday but the weather was so friggin' cold it was hard to move my fingers. So here with a little delay the next chapter of 'The brotherhood of heroes'  
Sorry for any grammar errors and such.**

DISCLAIMER: I'll put this down nice and simple. I OWN NOTHING!!!

**The brotherhood of heroes.**

The devil of Magdalene prt 1

________________________________________________

With a sad look on his face, Mushra starred into his coffee while he sat at a small wooden table.

"We will find her, don't worry about it. You know we won't rest until everyone is save." Edward assured him.

In the background he could hear Sora and the others turning into their sleeping bags. They began to awaken as well.

"Thanks Edward."

With a tired look in his eyes the Enterran turned his gaze towards the small dragon which slept on the bed of the old wizard.

"You know, I used to have a dragon once." He suddenly started.

"As a pet?" Edward asked surprised.

Mushra quickly shook his head.

"In the world I was born, dragons are connected to a Guardian from the moment they come to that world. Every Celestial in Shinzo has his own dragon partner."

"What happened to yours?"

"Lanancuras. He used to be one of the Guardians but his mind became corrupted and he started to conquer other planets, other worlds. Everyone who dared to attack him was killed. Including our last generation of dragons."

"All of them?"

"Almost all of them. Their population is finally starting to grow again after so many years."

"You must be missing it."

Mushra nodded.

"What has been bothering me is why Cynder has been used like that? Why has she been kidnapped by the Heartless and are there others who have been taken away?" The Guardian continued.

"I was wondering the same thing. Do you think it would have something to do with taming the darkness in the star of Abis?"

"No if she was needed then she would not have been sent to be a distraction."

Edward thought for a moment.

"Then it has to be connected to that prophecy Leon and Yuffie keep talking about."

A little surprised the Enterran looked up to the older brother.

"You're right. The reason for taking them must have been written in the second part of the prophecy. We could search the library before the others wake up?"

Edward shook his head.

"Yuffie, Leon and Aerith have been researching this last night and from what Cid told me when I woke up, they haven't been able to find anything."

"Maybe…we can only hope that the last chosen one can help us."

Both Edward and Mushra sighed deeply. From the corner of his eye he noticed Sora stretching his arms above his head. His hair looked even more messed up then it was the night before.

"Good morning." He whispered.

"Mornin'." The two at the table greeted back.

"How long have you two been up?"

"About three hours now Sora."

"I think I've been up most of the night." The Guardian softly mumbled.

"Most of the night? Are you feeling alright Mushra? Do you think you've got enough energy to travel today?"

A smile appeared on the face of the young warrior. He felt like he was surrounded by caring friends but he knew he couldn't let this journey be delayed in any way. Especially now that Yakumo was taken, it would only be a matter of time before she would be used to tame the star of Abis.  
He put his hands on the table and pushed himself up with a confident smile on his face.

"Don't worry Sora. I'm ready to find the last chosen one and to save those angels. No matter how tired I might feel or how far we would have to go."

"I second that." Edward called out with an enthusiastic voice.

Surprised the two looked at the blond alchemist.

"Listen, Alphonse and myself just want to go home as soon as possible and it doesn't matter how far this journey will take us."

"Why the rush Ed?"

Again the smile disappeared on the face of the boy. Mushra was sure now that there was something that would turn his mood upside down.

"There is something I have to find. Something I can only fix back home." He explained.

"Ed. Did something happen?" Sora suddenly asked in a whisper.

The Enterran noticed that the boy was startled by that question.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Well you…" The Keyblademaster started.

Calmly Mushra put a hand on the shoulder of the brown haired boy.

"Never mind Sora. If Ed wants to tell us something he will tell us without any of us asking." Mushra explained.

The boy sighed deeply before walking towards the front door. Before he opened it he turned around once more.

"I'm going to prepare the ship for take off. I'll come and get you guys when it's ready."

"We'll be waiting for your signal." Mushra told him with a smile.

Tired, the alchemist once again sat down at the small table.

"Listen Edward. I know something is troubling you and sometimes it helps to talk about it. But if you don't want to talk with us perhaps you can have a heart to heart with Al. I'm sure he would understand."

"It is something that concerns us both." Edward whispered.

"Are you ready to talk about it?"

"Perhaps when we are on our way again. I'm not sure if I'm awake enough to tell you."

"Sure. How about you go and wake up your brother and I'll go and see if Sora needs a hand."

The blond boy nodded and once again a faint smile appeared on his face.  
Quickly the warrior left the small house.

"Nii-san. Are you sure you want to tell him?" A hollow voice whispered from a corner of the room.

"Yes Aru. He might be able to help us to correct our mistake."

* * *

"So Sora, where are we going now?"

The star seemed to race past them so fast they seemed all but a blur.

"I've got a strong feeling that we should head out to the Western part of the universe." Sora answered.

"Well your feeling hasn't been wrong yet. So lead the way."

"Should I call you guys when we've landed?"

Mushra couldn't help but laugh at hearing that question.

"Sora with your way of landing we'll know soon enough."

"Ha-ha. Well you should try landing this thing. It isn't as easy as it looks you know." The Keyblademaster responded with an angry tone in his voice.

Mushra held up one of his hands, his smile never leaving his face, before walking to the small room the Colonel and Lieutenant sat the night before.

There on the sofa, Edward sat with an distant look on his face. Even Alphonse seemed to look deep in thought.  
It wasn't odd that both brothers where startled when they saw Mushra entering the room.

"Listen Ed, I know that something must have happened with you and Alphonse because you've had that guilty look on your face since last night's supper. You don't have to tell me but…"

"No you're right." The alchemist once again whispered.

"We've thought about this Mushra and both nii-san and myself have agreed that we should tell you about our past."

"But in exchange you've got to tell us about your past. Equivalent exchange and all that." Edward proposed with another grin on his face.

Mushra sighed deeply.

"You're right. Fair is fair, I'll tell you guys about Shinzo but you should go first."

"Our story begins the moment our mother died of a disease both of us never knew she had. When she past away all that remained of our family was just Al and myself and we would do anything to get her back. One night we found a way to do so and we became apprentices to a great alchemy teacher so that we could increase our strength and skill."

"So…you two tried to resurrect the dead? Is that even possible with alchemy?"

Alphonse shook his head and continued the story.

"We thought we could do it. We tried to one night when we were still small children, but something went very wrong. The ingredients where there, the circle, the right equations, but it still wasn't enough to bring mother back to us. I can't remember what happened next, but after we tried the transmutation, I woke up in a suit of armor and nii-san was bleeding on the ground. It was much later that I discovered that I lost my body and he lost his leg during our attempt."

"Which means you armor is empty?" Mushra carefully asked.

"Yes. I am the one to blame for that. I sacrificed my arm to bind his soul to that armor. It's my fault he can't eat, can't feel, can't breath. It's my fault."

Mushra noticed the tears in Edwards eyes. He couldn't even imagine what kind of sadness ran trough him.

"Nii-san it was our choice! It is also my fault your like that now."

Not agreeing with his little brother, the alchemist shook his head.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get Al back to normal. Maybe Merlin knows a way or perhaps in the next world you will find an answer."

"Mushra is right. There is a change that the stone can be made in another world without the human sacrifice." Alphonse told him.

"Maybe."

"Ed. May I ask how you can move your arm and leg then. It doesn't look like you're missing any limbs."

"Automail. A mechanical prosthetic which connects with the nerves. I can do anything with them my normal arm and leg can do. It just hurts like hell when they are attached."

"But nii-san. They hurt when it's cold don't they. Don't you wish to have your normal limbs back?" Alphonse asked.

"So the moment you got automail, what that the moment you wanted to get Al back to normal?"

"Yes. And to do so I became the youngest state alchemist on my world and earned the name 'Fullmetal alchemist' and I became known as 'hero of the people'. A few years ago we found out the philosophers stone was the only way to avoid the law of equivalent exchange and we've been searching it ever since."

"No luck yet huh?" Mushra guessed.

"We know a way of making it. It just needs a lot of human lives to do so." Al told him.

"And not just a few lives let me tell you that. I wouldn't been able to kill so many people."

"Are you telling me that you've…"

"Yeah I killed before. But he wasn't exactly human and he wanted to get me out of the way as well."

"Don't worry to much about it. I've killed several times to protect someone dear to me. But like they weren't human either. They didn't even leave a body as a matter of fact."

"What's the deal with you and Yakumo anyway? I know she's human but you…"

A moment of silence fell.

"I'm an Enterran. Well actually I'm a Guardian but in my mortal form I'm part of a race that was made trough genetic manipulation five hundred years ago. When the first Enterrans where created a war broke loose between them and the humans. Five hundred years later Yakumo wakes up from this cryogenic sleep and her journey begins to the city Shinzo. Where there are still humans. At least that's what her father told her in a message he left behind."

"But Enterra is populated with humans. We've seen them."

"Not in another dimension of Enterra. But I'm getting to that. Anyway Yakumo rescued me and along with Kutal and Sago we became her bodyguards during her journey. Somehow at one point we changed history and became part of another version of Enterra. The one I brought you guys to."

Both alchemist looked a bit puzzled but continued to listen.

"Then Lanancuras came around and forced Yakumo to use her special power. The same that cured you Edward. In the end it became fatal and after her death I discovered I once was a Celestial Guardian of Shinzo."

"So how did you end up on Enterra in the first place?" The suit of armor asked.

"Well I've kinda gave up my immortality to imprison Lanancuras. Many years later I was reborn on Enterra, just at the right moment the Guardians knew the world needed me. Then Lanancuras came back again because his prison collided with the planet and Yakumo used her powers to keep him inside his prison. After he was defeated I returned to Enterra and started working as a detective. Three years after that the Guardians gave Yakumo back to me."

"They can revive the dead?" Edward asked full of disbelieve.

"They can, but I know someone gave their live to do so. We Celestials are connected to each other."

"Who gave their live?"

"My grandmother." Mushra answered in a whisper.

Again a uncomfortable silence fell.

"It seems like we've all have been trough quit something."

"Live hasn't been kind to us. A lot of people died right in front of our eyes." The suit of armor whispered.

"A lot of loved ones?" Mushra suddenly asked.

Edward looked at him with a surprised face and nodded.

"It's your face. It's showing so much pain and sadness."

"We've lost someone we've cared about twice in our lives. First our mother and then…Nina."

"Nina?" The Guardian asked when he heard Alphonse say the second name.

"A little girl we met a couple of months before I took the state alchemist exam. She was like a little sister to us."

"At least you guys have each other. I whish I could see my family whenever I wanted."

"There is nothing we can change about it now. We can't turn back the clock, all we can do is walk forward and don't look back." The blond alchemist told him.

"Keep faith you two. I'm sure everything will work out once your world is restored and we've saved the universe."

With an all-knowing smile on his face, Mushra walked away from the two brothers, back towards the cockpit.

"Do you have this feeling that he knows more then he's letting on nii-san."

"I've got the same feeling Aru." Edward softly said to his younger brother.

* * *

**Not much exitement here. Mushra just got the background story on the Elric's. In the next part of the chapter they will arive at a new world. Will they find the last chosen one? And what is up with this guy in the white coat?**

I'll update as soon as I can.  
Thank you for reading!


	14. The devil of Magdalene part two

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has been used in this fanfiction and isn't already owned by someone else.**

**AN: Well since Azmaria is going to be in here from this chapter on I wanted to give her another power besides healing others with her song. In this case it is making people feel calm again inside when she laughs. Other then that she won't be having any powers though.**

**The brotherhood of Heroes: The devil of Magdalene prt 2.**

The sound of people celebrating surrounded them. Bright colored lights decorated the little stalls and attractions of the fair.  
A melody was heard softly from where he stood.

His ruby red eyes looked tired and worried. Finding the beloved little brother of his contractor, the arrival of Count Duffeau and those dreams that kept returning to him ever since they departed for San Francisco. It all seemed to be too much for him.  
And to make matters worse, the dreaded feeling he had the last few days began to feel worse every minute.  
With a sigh he took a bite out of the hot potato he got shoved into his hands. Slowly his body returned to his normal, warm, temperature.

"So you think the last chosen one is around here somewhere?" Edwards whispered.

The brown haired boy nodded.

"Don't you think we stand out to much?" Sora asked the Enterran.

Mushra knew he was revering to the clothes they were all wearing and out of the four of them Alphonse looked most odd but he also had to admit that Edward, the Keyblademaster and himself were not entirely blending into the crowd.

"Perhaps they won't notice us. It's a fair after all, they could be to busy having fun." He hoped he was right.

"But still won't I attract too much attention?" Alphonse asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"How about we split up in groups of two. That way we won't attract too much attention to the locals and maybe it will help us find that last chosen one in half the time." Sora suggested.

Edward nodded.

"Sounds good Sora. How about we rendezvous in an hour at that dance stage?"

"Alright! Ed you go with Mushra and I'll search with Alphonse."

* * *

With an amused look on his face he watched as the fiery red head stole the spotlight on the small stage. With graceful movements she let herself be spun around by her dance partner. The face of the blonde nun beside him slightly turned red by anger and before he knew it she dragged him onto the dance floor.

With a deep sigh both Edward and Mushra arrived at the meeting point.

"We've searched the whole carnival but nothing. I hope Aru and Sora had more luck then we did."

Mushra nodded and cast a glance upon the dancing crowd on the small wooden stage. At that moment he noticed that he kept looking at a small boy with a long purple braid.  
His long coat bounced with the wild and angry movements he made with the blond nun he was dancing with.  
What looked like two people trying to stomp on each others feet, quickly made place for an unusual dance. At the end of the song both seemed to move in harmony.

"Do you see him Mushra?" Edward asked while he also noticed the small boy.

"Purple hair, red coat, red eyes. It's him I'm sure of it."

"Should we get onto the dance floor to try and attract his attention?"

"That's a good idea. When he sees one of us he might recognize us from his dreams. It could be that he will want to talk to us on his own."

The young alchemist looked to his right and noticed a small girl with silver white hair and clear red eyes looking at the people who danced on stage.

"Wait here for the others." He told the Enterran.

Mushra watched as Ed walked towards the girl and bowed before her after that he escorted her towards the dance floor.

"What is nii-san trying to do?"

The Guardian looked behind him when he recognized the voice of Alphonse.

"He's trying to attract the attention of the last chosen one. We're hoping that if he recognized us from his dream that he'll want to talk to us on his own. Otherwise we might have to force him to come with us."

"Does Ed know how to dance?" Sora suddenly asked.

"Never underestimate nii-san. He can do more he's letting you think he can."

Carefully he took the hand of the little girl in his and with a small smile on his lips he began to lead the girl trough the dance with graceful moves.  
It didn't take long before the two came near the chosen one and his dancing partner.  
With another graceful move Edward stretched his arm and let the girl spin in front of him.  
An angel like giggle escaped her lips and for a second the alchemist seemed to forget what happened to him hours before.  
Her touch seemed almost familiar even though he couldn't really feel her skin trough his gloves.  
But even after all his efforts the last chosen one didn't seem to notice Edward at all.

"Thank you for this dance miss." Edward thanked her with a small bow after the music ended.

The little girl slightly bowed her knees and lifted her pink dress a bit.

"Thank you for asking kind sir."

Hearing that sentence made Edward laugh a bit.

"You don't have to call me sir. My name is Edward and thanks again for this dance."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Azmaria."

"Nii-san! Did it work?" Alphonse called out to his brother.

"Not really Aru. He only seems to have eyes for his dance partner."

Azmaria looked with big frightened eyes at the suit of armor that had walked up to the blond boy.  
Edward noticed her look and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Don't worry Azmaria. This is my little brother Alphonse. He won't hurt you. Aru this is Azmaria."

"Nice to meet you." The two said at the same time.

"Isn't suppose to be the other way around? Alphonse is much bigger." The little girl suddenly asked.

Normally he would explode when people assumed he was the youngest of the two. But this time he didn't. He didn't know why the violent flames didn't rise up inside of him as they usually did. Maybe it was because he felt calm when that little girl was around.  
Even Alphonse seemed to be less uncomfterable as he didn't really got used to the stares people gave him back home and his big brother knew this.

"Well...that's because nii-san doesn't drink his milk." Alphonse told her.

The little girl laughed after hearing this.

"Ed they're of the stage." Sora called while he and Mushra walked towards the brothers.

"Who?" Azmaria asked curiously.

"We're looking for the boy with the purple hair who just danced on stage." Edward explained.

"Chrono? But why are you looking for him?"

"We have to talk to him about something important." Mushra explained.

Frightened the little girl stepped backwards.

"You're not...you're not devils are you?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"No don't worry. We're not devils." Sora assured her.

"We just need his help with something." Alphonse explained.

"Help?"

* * *

"A photograph?" The young girl asked surprised.

"Yes a photo to capture ze happy moment we have together."

With a graceful flick the red haired women tossed her long her backwards.  
Her red lips smiled sweetly at the two that stood before her.

"Where is Az.? She should be in the picture as well." The boy suddenly noticed.

His red eyes searched trough the crowd that still surrounded the small stage. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the apostle wasn't in sight.

"Any idea where they are Azmaria?" Sora asked.

"Oh just call me Az mister Sora."

"Then you just call me Sora." He grinned.

"That's right Azmaria. No need for formalities." Mushra told her.

Smiling she nodded towards the group.

"I think they could be at the fountain, but I'm not sure."

Heavy vibrations suddenly made the ground shake. Mushra almost immediately knew what was going on. He felt the familiar dark aura surround the carnival.

"Sora the Heartless!"

"Those shocks. It must be a big one." Edward noticed.

"Alright guys change of plans. Edward you and Al protect Azmaria and try to find her friends."

"But what about you two Sora?" Alphonse asked.

"This is the same feeling as in Radiant Garden. I'm pretty sure another dragon is send towards us."

Mushra nodded.

"We will get the original dragon out of it. You two try to protect Az and find the last chosen one and stick with him and his friends. Maybe one of them is one of the angels." The Guardian told them.

Edward nodded and quickly took the small hand of the girl before running of with his little brother.

* * *

"Alright Spyro. What's the plan?"

The big dragon turned to Genki and looked at him with his yellow eyes before letting out a small growl on which the young boy chuckled.

"I'll look for Sora while you try to cause an uproar at the carnival. I'm pretty sure the Guardian will try to free you from that Heartless form. We are lucky that you have a strong heart my friend otherwise this plan would not even work."

Again the creature let out a soft growl.

"Just remember she's watching us. If you see a black bird somewhere try to kill it while you make it look like an accident."

A protesting sound escaped the animal.

"I don't know how you do it. But it has to work. For Holly and Cynder."

With a loud roar that filled the air the beast named Spyro left his place in the shadows.

* * *

"Sora!"

With much noise followed by the screams of the crowd, the large Heartless dragon walked onto the carnival grounds. Just as with Cynder the crest of the Heartless was printed upon his chest. His large wings easily cut trough the fabric covered tents.

"I'll make an entrance and you jump." Sora called back to Mushra.

Determent the Guardian nodded and transformed to his Guardian form. At the moment that the bright light of the transmutation appeared a black bird flew up from the place he was watching.

Blinded by the light he sought his refuge in the dark stromclouds that covered the sky.  
Very soon the bird spotted a white painted house and something made him wanting to lend there.  
Amused a tall man in a white coat, wearing glasses with slightly dark skin and long white hair, looked at the panic that spread at the carnival near the house.  
With a loud screech the bird landed beside him.

"What do we have here?" He asked the bird with a calm and deep voice.

The animal spread his wings and thin strings of black smoke raised from between the shiny black feathers.

The smoke became thicker until the bird couldn't be seen anymore and a pale skinned, skinny woman stepped out of the cloud.

An evil smile spread across her lips.

"Sinner Aion I presume."

"And who wants to know?" He asked.

"I have a proposition for you. And if you're willing to cooperate I can make your biggest dream come true."

The smile on her face became wider when she noticed she had the attention of the devil in front of him.


	15. The dragons part one

**I know I know this is awefully late compared to when I uploaded this on my DA account. But I'm not rushing this because there is only one person I know of...maybe two...who is still following this story.  
So expect the chapters to be longer and slower in update next time and sorry if there's any grammar errors in this.**

I'll be lazy today so here's a short disclaimer: I own nothing!!!!! Everything used in this fic already has an owner!!!!

**The brotherhood of heroes**

**The dragons.**

With all his strength Sora jumped up in the air, hoping he would get high enough to at least hit the belly of the beast.  
Unfortunately this time he barely reached the knee of the large dragon.  
With a loud roar he beast pounded his tail onto the ground, making it shake on impact.

"Mushra, this one is a whole lot bigger then last time."

"You'll have to jump down from something if we want to repeat what we did last time."

"That'll take to much time. I'm not letting you fight that thing by yourself." Sora called out.

Mushra looked up to see a large claw coming his way. He managed to avoid being crushed under the weight of the dragon.

"I'll be fine! You go and get to higher ground I'll lead that thing to you."

For a moment the Keyblademaster doubted the suggestion of his friend but made his way to the giant Ferris wheel that, for some miraculous reason, was still standing.

"Az, do you have any idea where they might have run off to?" Alphonse asked.

"I'm not sure if miss Satella and Rosette would run from this to be honest." The little girl answered.

"They're not going to try to defeat the dragon are they?" Edward asked a bit startled by what the Apostle said.

The girl nodded with a frightened look on her face.

"If this dragon is anything like the one in Radiant Garden, then there must be a little dragon in this one as well." Alphonse quickly said.

Edward nodded and noticed how a faint light coming from behind a couple of tents, quickly transformed into the pale shape of a knight.

"That has to be miss Satella!" The little girl said with a hint of joy in her voice.

"Quickly Aru. We have to stop her from going to the dragon. Mushra and Sora need to do their job without anyone else trying to help. Who knows how many victims that thing will make if they do."

With a quick dash the blond alchemist raced towards the knight. It wasn't long until his red coat disappeared behind a corner.

"Stop don't move!" He shouted.

"Vhy vould I boy."

A redheaded women with long hair and a fiery look in her eyes shot an angry glare towards the golden eyed boy.  
Edward was just in time to avoid an attack by the large pale knight.

"The dragon is being taken care of. You don't have to put your live at stake." He explained.

"Miss Satella!" A happy voice suddenly filled the air.

"Azmaria!"

"Miss Satella, where are Rosette and Chrono? It's important that we find them." The girl asked.

"Rosette vanted to kill the dragon herself and ran off when I tried to fight off those little black creatures. Chrono vent vith her."

"Shit!" Edward cursed loudly.

Turning around, the older brother made his way towards the dragon once more.

"Nii-san!"

"Aru. You stay with Azmaria and this lady! Make sure they're save I'll go and look for the chosen one."

With a rattling noise Alphonse nodded and carefully pulled the little girl back when she tried to go after his older brother.

"Nii-san is strong Az. He knows what to do." He assured her.

She looked at him with a worried look on her face before turning towards the witch.

"Ve have no choice but to believe him I think."

With a loud roar the dragon fell down on the ground. Sora made his way to solid ground after he had just smacked the beast on his head. With a swift movement from his spear, Mushra made an opening."  
Quickly he reached inside of the fresh wound and let the darkness pull him in until he was sure the Heartless dragon swallowed him whole.

"Help!...I can't…hold on much longer."

The faint cries of help sounded weak but close.

"Let's hope this will be just as easy as the last one." Mushra whispered while he summoned a small light orb from his hands.

The thin long hands of darkness, which had wrapped themselves around him, let go by the sight of the Guardian's light.  
Mushra closed his eyes and waited, hoping to hear another cry for help to point him in the right direction. All that he heard was his own breathing and heartbeat. He kept waiting and listening.  
Suddenly the sound of what looked like a muffled scream was heard and it was much closer then he fist thought.

It didn't take long before he noticed the familiar faint glow in front of him. When he cam closer he noticed that the glow came from a couple of small flames floating around a purple dragon, slightly bigger then Cynder was. His body showed signs that he had been struggling against the Heartless.

The eyes of the dragon where closed and his wings folded tightly against him.  
Mushra noticed how the flames began to die out and in return the dark chains that held the dragon prisoner began to wrap around him more tightly.

"This is easier then I thought." Mushra smirked.

Quickly the Guardian flew towards the helpless dragon, ready to save the animal from the chains which slowly tightened their grip around it. Beneath him two yellow, beady eyes carefully watched his every move.

Slowly Mushra stretched out his hand and let the tiny orb float in front of him. Now his hand where free for him to cut the chains with his spear with one powerful blow. Just like he had done before.  
With one swift move, the tip of the spear cut trough the lower dark chains with much ease. He got ready to release the dragon from his prison and focused on the two remaining signs of darkness.

His arms moved with much strength towards his goal, he launched himself forward ready to end the rampaging Heartless dragon.  
Before the Guardian got the chance to move his weapon forward, two yellow eyes shot up from beneath him to show the boy it had a large body which didn't want him to pass that easily.

"A Heartless!" He gasped in surprise.

Just like the dragon it whore the crest of the Heartless on his chest. His arms where long and somewhat ghostlike just like the thin claws that looked ready to reach out and grab the Celestial.

His head was round and two spiral formed horns stuck out from each side. The creature had two wings, one that looked like that of an angel and the other could have belonged to an demon or maybe even an dragon.  
Mushra couldn't see the legs of the creature but he did see a long tail shift around with short, angry movements.

"So this isn't going to be as easy as I thought."

"Mushra what's taking you." Sora said to himself with impatience in his voice.

De giant dragon before him had stopped walking around. The yellow eyes of the Heartless no longer glowed and that was what made Sora worry.  
Right now the animal looked more like an oversized statue and it didn't scream in pain like the last dragon. Also it didn't even seem like the powers of the Guardian worked against the beast.  
From the corner of his eye, Sora noticed a group of smaller Heartless racing towards him. The Keyblademaster tightened his grip on the Keyblade and braced himself to attack the smaller creatures.

"They must have been sent here to buy time." He thought while he launched himself at the shadows, letting them vanish.

Suddenly the sound of gunfire filled his ears, followed by one of the creatures flying past him. Turning around, the boy noticed an blonde girl, the same one that danced with the boy who could be one of the chosen.  
Her face carried an look of pure anger as she pointed her gun at the giant dragon.  
Before she even got the change to fire, Sora witnessed how two strong arms threw themselves around her and pressed her body against the frame of a very fat person. His cat-like features were not hard to make out under the remaining light of the broken mary-go-round.  
Startled the girl dropped the gun and tried to wiggle her way to freedom. The Keyblademaster recognized the one holding the girl and sprinted towards them. Determined to save her.

"Pete let her go!" Sora yelled.

The cat who still held her in a tight grip, grinned to Sora with an evil look in his eyes.  
Quicker then he thought was possible, the boy sprinted towards the attacker.  
He lifted his weapon, ready to strike until something unexpected made him stop in his tracks.

A small boy with a serious look on his face had just kicked Pete on the backside of his head. The force of the impact was enough for the large feline to fall forward.  
Startled by the sudden blow to his head, he released the girl who quickly retrieved her gun and was now pointing it at her attacker who lay on the ground.  
It all happened so fast that Sora had to blink a couple of times before he realized what just happened.

"Genki you traitor." Pete called out before he blacked out.

"Genki?" Sora asked the smaller boy.

He no longer looked like the boy he met for the first time. His eyes where still clear as glass, but it also carried an strong feeling of determination. The Keyblademaster suspected it had something to do with Holly's kidnapping.

"Sora!" He called out in surprise.

"Genki, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Sora. We didn't know you where serious about those Heartless." Genki told him with a soft voice.

"What happened to you out there?" Sora wanted to know.

"No time for an reunion guys!" A high voice told them.

Both heroes turned towards the girl that was still standing close to them.

"Those creatures are everywhere. Genki we have to find Chrono and stop that dragon."

"Calm down Rosette. You're one of the angels of light, I'm here to protect you." Genki told her.

With an surprised look Sora looked at the two humans. How was Genki sure she was one of the angels? How did he know about them in the first place?  
He looked at Rosette once more, she looked like an nun but Sora could only guess why she was carrying weapons like that. Was she really one of the angels?

"Don't worry about that dragon sister, a friend of mine is working on the problem." Sora assured her.

"Good, then we can go out to find Chrono Sora. He can help us to protect Rosette." A smile appeared on the face of the champion.

"You do know Chrono is one of the chosen ones right?"

Sora nodded.

"We had a hunch."

"Chosen for what?" The blonde nun asked.

"But of course this one has his own bodyguard. Why won't these things go like in the movies." Mushra softly complained.

With a low roar the devil-Heartless stretched out his arms and before the Guardian could blink he found himself locked in the icy grip of the beast.

"Shit."


	16. The dragons part two

**Thank you everyone who is still folowing this for being this patient. This chapter goes out for everyone who has been following the story so far even those I don't know about.  
****And sorry again if there's any grammar errors in this, English isn't my first language.**

Disclaimer: I don't own, Shinzo, Disney related things, Spyro the dragon and other Spyro characters, Kingdom Hearts, Chrno crusade, FMA, Monster Rancher, Finall Fantasy related characters and everything else I've might forgotten to mention.****

The brotherhood of heroes.

**The dragons – part two.**

He tried to wiggle himself free from the monsters grip. The wide beak of the Heartless opened up before him and he felt the arms moving towards the large opening.  
Slowly the small light orb he made moved passed him when suddenly an idea came to the Guardian.  
With much effort he managed to free two fingers, the arms still moving him towards the dark creature. It stretched it's wings widely, excited about it's upcoming meal.

With a small movement of his finger, the tiny orb once again floated next to Mushra. His ribs began to hurt by the fierce grip of the beast, breathing became much more difficult then before. Trying to focus on the big mouth of the Heartless, Mushra managed to move his fingers once again and pointed them at the huge gaping mouth.  
With a great speed the small light orb flew in the direction of the black head of the monster. He prayed his attack would strike directly into the dark opening.  
Mushra watched trough squinting eyes how his orb hit one of the beady yellow eyes.

Everything went dark en he could hear a loud scream of pain filling the air. The painful grasp around him vanished which let the Guardian know the monster had let go of him. Still he kept looking at the one yellow, beady eye that he was still able to see amongst the darkness. He noticed it going down before disappearing and melting together with the rest of the dragon again.  
The lights where out, he knew he was an easy target.  
As quickly as he could he once again made one of the small light orbs en made his way towards the small purple dragon in front of him. With a swift move he cut down the strands of dark substance that held the creature captive.  
Only this time the dragon-like shell didn't disappear.

"Isn't this Heartless some sort of vessel that captured this dragon?" He thought.

With a firm grip the Guardian held the dragon in his arms, waiting for the big monster that was still luring somewhere in the large shadow.

* * *

"Where are you?" Edward called out to himself.

Hastily he looked at his surroundings, looking for the boy with the long braid he had seen dancing.

"Where could he be? I hope Al will be fine on his own for so long."

Edward sighed deeply and looked at two tents before him. Every once in a while a small Heartless shot up from the ground. Strangely they didn't seem to be paying any attention to the blond alchemist at all.  
His golden eyes went wide when he suddenly saw three of the small creatures flying past him before they hit the ground a disappeared in the familiar poof of black smoke, followed by the same boy Edward had seen dancing on the stage. The last chosen one.  
On his face stood an look of pure anger and Edward swore he could have heard a heavy growl out of his body. On his hands as well as on his face small scratches where seen. The alchemist was almost sure that the sharp claws of the Shadow Heartless made the fresh wounds.  
Not only his skin but also his once white shirt was tainted with the crimson colour of blood.  
Carefully he took a couple of steps towards the raging boy as he managed to hit the last two creatures away from him.  
Softly Edward put one of his hands on the shoulder of the chosen one to get his attention and attention the young alchemist got from the boy in the from of an fist coming towards him.  
With a quick reflex he blocked the fist with his right arm and found himself staring straight into an pair of red eyes. The heavy growl of the boy disappeared along with the sharp fangs was showing. A look of surprise on his face.

"You." He started.

Ed didn't speak.

"You're eyes…I've been seeing them in my dreams."

"Just like those black creatures. I know I've been having the same dreams just like the others."

"Others?"

"It's a long story I'll explain it to you later. You're Chrono right?"

"How did you know that?"

"Azmaria told me. Don't worry she's save with my little brother and some redheaded lady."

A sigh of relieve escaped Chrono's body.

"I'm Edward Elric." The alchemist continued as he held out his hand.

Carefully the chosen one shook it.

"Nice to meet you. Could you…could you bring me to Az and Satella?"

"Sure, but she told me that you and that blond girl ran off together."

Again he sighed.

"We got separated." Chrno admitted.

"Then it might be better if we go search for her with the rest. It might be dangerous is she's out there right alone right now with all this chaos."

"I don't know…I'm not sure why but I'm worried something might happen to her. If my friends are save with your little brother, isn't it a better idea for us two to look for her right now?"

Edward shook his head.

"I don't like to leave Alphonse alone. There not far from here if we hurry we can find that girl faster as well."

With a worried look Chrono nodded.

"Aright let's go!"

"Do you know where my friends are?" The blonde nun suddenly asked.

Swiftly she shot the black creatures that tried to block her path. Sora tried his best to keep the Heartless at arms length.

"You mean Chrono?"

"Yes and Azmaria and Satella."

For a moment the wild haired brunette stopped.

"We met her."

"Who?" Genki suddenly asked after hitting another shadow.

"Azmaria. Edward and Alphonse are protecting her while they look for Chrono."

Edward turned his gaze to the unmoving shadow standing in the centre of the carnival.

"Alright change of plan. Maybe it's better for us to just lure the Heartless to one place." The alchemist suddenly suggested.

"What?"

"Listen Chrono. If we want to or not, both of us are chosen to do something very important and these creatures that are taking over the carnival, they want our hearts. Not Alphonse's or Az's but ours."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"First I thought it was just a freaky accident that my world was taken over by those things and that they tried so hard to burst into the room I was in. But since I've learned from Mushra and Sora that they are getting orders…"

"Someone is using them to get to us."

The young boy was surprised that Chrono wasn't surprised, worried or even afraid.

"Yeah. So it seems like a better idea to lure them away from my brother and the others. Even from that blonde girl."

Agreeing with Edward the lavender haired boy nodded.

"We'll have to fight trough all of this."

"I know that the other chosen ones, Mushra and Sora, are busy taking care of that dragon. We should go there and I'm sure we can count on their help as well."

"Lead the way I'm right behind you."

* * *

"Genki we've got a mayor problem here!" Rosette yelled out to him.

Before her another large group of Heartless blocked her way. In the middle of the group Sora managed to take out three shadows at the same time.

"Problem?" The monster champion asked.

Rosette had to admit, for such a small boy Genki was more then able to defend himself with the old pipe he found a for minutes ago.

"There are at least ten dozen of those Heartless left here and I'm down to my last ten sacreds."

Suddenly one of to creatures jumped in front of her face. As an reaction she aimed her gun at the creature and pulled the trigger. A thin strand of smoke was all that's left of the Heartless.

"Make that nine!" She called out with a hint of panic in her voice.

"We'll have to buy more time for Mushra. If he can defeat that dragon the other Heartless will vanish just like last time."

"Last time!" Genki asked shocked.

"No time for an explanation boys! It's every man for himself!" The blonde nun shouted at the two.

"Mushra please hurry." The Keylademaster whispered.

* * *

The Guardian was breathing heavy and he felt how his heart raced in his chest. He knew he was an easy target with the purple dragon clutched under his arm and not able to use his weapon like he used to.

"I save the dragon, the monster is still alive and waiting around here. O' yeah things can't get any worse then this."

The small light orb that still floated around, slowly started to get even smaller. Mushra was so focused on his surroundings, waiting for the beast to attack, that he didn't notice the light fading away until it was dark.

"I stand corrected. It can get worse."

A loud roar let him know that the Heartless demon was still close by.

"I have to get out before that thing grabs me again." Mushra sighed deeply, he knew what the only could be his only way out right now.

Calmly he closed his eyes and waited.

* * *

"That's it I'm out of ammo!"

"Rosette this way, stay close to us." Sora called out to her.

Before the girl could nod she was suddenly blinded by a bright light.  
For a moment she waited, hoping the Heartless around her where just as stunned as she was and where afraid to move.  
She dared to open her eyes again when she heard Sora shout.

"Mushra!"

On the ground, where the dragon once stood, Mushra lay on the ground, his arm wrapped around a scaled animal. The Heartless surrounding her and the two boys seemed to have disappeared.  
Genki followed the Keyblademaster to their wounded comrade.

"What was that?" Genki softly asked.

"An heavens gate attack. But not such a powerful one as I've seen last time."

Genki crouched down next to the unconscious body of the young Guardian. Blood slowly tickled down his face and from a deep wound in his side.

"I can heal him. But if the rest of the Heartless come back then you'll have to protect Rosette." Genki told him.

Sora nodded.

"You've changed Genki. When we've get out of here you'll have to tell me what happened to you."

"What happened was that I was to stupid to listen to you. Because of me Holly has been captured and…"

"We'll get her back and the other angels as well."

"When we get out of here Spyro and myself will explain everything. But first we have to protect Rosette no matter what it takes. They can't capture her as well."

Not exactly sure what Genki was talking about, Sora walked back to the nun who kept looking around her with a scared look on her face.

"No worries sister Rosette. Genki can heal Mushra in no time."

"What happened? What was that thing?" She demanded.

"Thanks to our friend that has been fighting inside that dragon, most of the Heartless have vanished."

"Most of them doesn't mean all." Rosette told him.

Sora nodded.

"I'm sure there aren't many hanging around."

The Keyblademaster didn't even finish his sentence as the last of the dark creatures appeared in the shadows of the carnival ruins. There numbers weren't as large as the group who just attacked them but with Mushra unconscious and Rosette out of bullets, things didn't look all that well.

* * *

The moment Mushra woke up he felt an warm glow travelling all over his body. When he opened his eyes he noticed that the warm glow seemed to be floating above him.

"How are you feeling?"

An unfamiliar face hovered over him wearing a worried expression, his clear brown eyes looked familiar.

"You're….one of the chosen." The Guardian whispered.

The boy nodded.

"I'm Genki."

"But how…Sora told me.."

"No now. Rosette needs our help. She's one of the angels."

Moaning loudly in pain, the Guardian tried to sit up straight. His gaze then fell on the purple dragon laying next to him.

"Rosette!" Sora suddenly called out.

Startled both Genki and Mushra turned towards the sudden yell.  
The blonde nun was suddenly finding herself in the arms of a tall man wearing a long white coat. His silver coloured hair was neatly tied together in a long ponytail and on his nose a small pair of glasses rested.  
The nun seemed to be paralyzed by feeling his though. They could see her chest rising and falling faster then normally and it looked like she was going to panic any second now.

"Don't bet on him coming my dear Magdalene." He whispered softly in her ear.

"Let her go or else!" The Keyblademaster bravely called out to the stranger.

"Or else what boy. You're going to defeat me?"

An evil smile appeared on his lips.  
One of his arms was tightly clutched around the girls shaking upper body. He stretched his other arm towards Sora.  
He couldn't see what exactly hit him. All the chosen one knew was that something hit him and threw him with great force against the broken marry-go-round.

"Sora!" The voice of Edward suddenly called out.

"Rosette! Rosette!" An voice unknown to the brunette reached his ears.

When both Edward and Chrono raced onto the battlefield, they witnessed how the Keyblademaster was thrown against the broken attraction, they noticed how a young boy was crouched besides Mushra, trying his best to stop the Guardian from going to his friend.  
They saw how he also seemed to be grinding his teeth together with an pained expression on his face.  
And lastly they noticed how a liquid black pool appeared under the feet of the strange man and dragged him and the nun into the ground.  
Before the older Elric noticed it, the devil had already raced passed him and one of the dark creatures storming towards him.

"Aion!" He shouted angry before he dived towards the black pool.

"It's to late brother." With those worlds the head of the man who held the blond nun vanished.

Rosette gasped for air as she tried hard to keep her head above the black, liquid mass.

"Chrono." She managed to call out before she felt the small devil's hand reach out into the liquid to get hold of her clock.

He couldn't see what was happening beneath his dear Rosette, he tried to pull her back up with all his strength but he only felt the cold metal of the chain on which her life hang.  
One pull was enough to break the golden chain and send Chrono tumbling backwards the watch still in his hand.  
Panicking he once again launched forward, wanting to try again to pull her out of the pool but it was to late. The liquid gateway already vanished and around the chosen small puffs of smoke appeared. The Heartless where gone.

"That little apostle girl is next Chrono." The voice of the man filled the nights air.

Outraged he slammed his fist against the stone ground. Tears rolling from his eyes as he clutched the pocket watch, her life, against his chest.

"ROSETTE!" He finally screamed in the air.

"You watch out little apostle, you're next." The voice of Aion continued.

One drop of rain landed on Mushra's face. With a sad look he turned his gaze towards the sky as he held onto his injured side.

"Just two more angels left." Genki whispered.

"We have to free them." The Guardian whispered back.

"I know where they are. I know where she is keeping them and what she's planning."

Surprised Mushra looked up at the boy.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Malificent."

**Thank you everyone for reading.  
AN: Because this year is Shinzo's tenth anniversery, since it first aired in Japan in 2000, I'm having an Shinzo artjam on Deviantart. Anyone is welcome to join and I'll be updating this story more often this month.**


	17. The witch

**Here's the next chapter. I'll no longer be splitting chapters in parts now. So It'll take a little longer to update but I'll try to finish this story as quickly as I can. I've got a miniture holliday next week so that gives me plenty of time to translate more chapters.  
Disclaimer: Alrighty here we go I don't own - Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy related characters, Disney related characters, Spyro, Chrno crusade, FMA, Monster Rancher.**

The brotherhood of heroes.

**The Witch.**

Small raindrops let themselves fall from the dark sky onto the carnival grounds. It wasn't long until the heavens ripped open and a douse of rain covered the chosen ones.

"Who is Malificent?" The guardian asked Genki.

"I'll tell you guys later. You have to relax now and let me heal your wounds." The boy said.

"You can do that?"

"When I was captured, my powers seemed to grow. Malificent said they where always their but ever since I've met Sora those healing powers have really awakened." Genki explained.

"What?" Mushra asked again, still a bit confused about everything that just happened.

"You'll get an better explanation later. Now let me heal you."

Mushra sighed deeply before he let himself relax onto the soaked ground. The young boy laid his hands on the bleeding wound on his side.  
It didn't take long before the Celestial felt that same warm feeling he felt before waking up just now. That strong familiar feeling, send a wave of comforting warmth throughout his body.

"Done." Genki whispered.

"The tears of the Phoenix."

Surprised the healer looked at him.

"It felt just as warm as it's flame's. I…I remember."

Both heroes where pulled out of their thoughts as Sora approached them.

"They've left." He suddenly said to the two boys.

"The Heartless?"

"After Rosette was taken, they just went up in smoke."

"Where is Al?" The Guardian suddenly asked as he sat up straight and noticed the suit of armor was missing.

"Save I hope. As you might have noticed, Ed came running on the battlefield with our last chosen one. I don't think he would leave his little brother behind if that would be dangerous."

Both Mushra and Genki nodded.  
With a loud grunt, the Guardian managed to stand from his position on the ground.

"Let's go find him en retreat for now. I don't know about you guys but after such a bad day I'm dying for a couple of hours sleep." The Keyblademaster suggested.

"Great idea. Then tomorrow morning we can think up on a plan on where to go next and I'll tell you about Malificent."

"Whoa! Malificent! She's alive? I thought she just….no she couldn't have survived that battle with the organization."

"What do you mean Sora?"

With a sad look in his eyes the brunette shook his head.

"When we've regained our strength I'll tell you guys a little more about how I know her. But first we must inform the last chosen one what's going on here."

With a serious look, Genki turned his gaze towards the sobbing devil who kept staring at the spot the nun just disappeared into.

"He must deeply care for her." He whispered.

* * *

Slowly Edward approached the purple haired boy in front of him.

"Hey are you alright?" He asked.

After he asked the question, the alchemist mentally kicked himself because he could guess the answer.

"She's…gone…Rosette." He answered between sobs, still looking at the ground.

"She's not the only one. She's the third angel that has been taken away."

Confused the devil turned around and looked at the boy with piercing ruby eyes.

"Not the only angel? What are you talking about and why do I keep having this feeling that I know you?"

"Like I've said before it's a long story that we're going to tell you real soon. The only thing I'm sure of is that you're one of the chosen like the rest of us."

"Chosen for what?"

Edward raised his shoulders.

"Saving the universe it seems." He answered.

"This shouldn't be happening. We should be looking for Joshua, defeat Aion and live a happy live for as long as it was possible. This wasn't suppose to happen and it's my fault."

"Why are you blaming yourself Chrono? Whoever took Rosette is very powerful and I'm sure that even if we're at full strength, he won't be easy to beat."

"Aion took her Edward. He wanted to take her away from me for such a long time." The devil explained.

"Why's that?"

"She's the reincarnation of Magdalene. To our kind you can believe she used to be a saint having the gift to look into the past and future. Demons and devils respect her because…"

"Because?"

"Never mind it's to complicated. I'm not sure why I'm even telling you this I just met you."

Edward Elric couldn't help but snicker softly.  
He didn't know why he shared his story with Mushra when he did and the alchemist had given it some thought before coming to the conclusion that something inside him…knew he could trust his new friends.

"You don't have to tell me. We're just to ask you for you help to stop the star of Abis and save the Angels." Sora's voice suddenly told the devil.

The two chosen ones didn't notice the others walking towards them.

"I don't know if I can. I don't know if I'm strong enough to save her."

"Chrono we'll help you. Maybe you can't do this alone but your not alone. We'll save your Rosette together." Edward explained.

Mushra slowly kneeled beside the confused devil and offered him his hand. His other arm he had clutched around the sleeping form of the small dragon.

"Do you want to help us?" he asked.

Thoughtfully Chrono looked at the hand that was offered to him en then he looked at the face of the Guardian. A small smile crept onto his face.

"I'm going with you. I'll do anything to save her."

Mushra nodded as the young boy took a hold of his hand. Without to much trouble he managed to help the chosen one stand up.

"I don't think we've met. My name is Chrono."

"Nice to meet you I'm Sora and this is Genki." Sora said while pointing to his companion.

"My name is Mushra and you've already met Ed I think."

"Which reminds me Ed. Where is your little brother?" Sora suddenly asked.

"Yeah we've split up when that dragon attacked and if I remember correctly Alphonse went with you."

"I left Aru to protect Azmaria with some red haired lady."

"That's Satella." Chrono suddenly said.

"You know her?"

The devil nodded.

"I hope they where able to keep those things away." The alchemist mumbled.

"So Sora what's the plan?" Genki asked suddenly.

"We'll find Al, Azmaria and Satella then we'll head back to Radiant Garden to rethink our plan of action." The Keyblademaster suggested.

"Agreed and then we can ask Cynder if she knows this little dragon. Besides I'm curious to find out what you know about this Malificent, Genki." Mushra said.

"Don't worry I'll tell you guys everything I know."

Suddenly the hollow sound that Alphonse made with his armor drew closer to the small group. Relieved to hear the sound that his little brother made, Edward turned around.  
In the arms of the suit of armor the sleeping form of Azmaria rested. The woman who he left behind with his little brother, calmly walked behind him. There was no trace of her once neatly done hair en on her face she whore a expression that told every man around to stay away from her.

"Al what happened to her?" Ed asked gesturing to the sleeping girl.

"You're never going to believe this." He told excitedly.

"Azmaria managed to call out 'er powers. Et has bin a while since that happened." Satella explained.

"To heal you?" Chrono asked immediately.

The red head nodded.

"What happened Aru?"

"Az started singing when the Heartless where about to overpower us. Then she started to glow and…wings nii-san! She grew wings!"

Edward smiled.

"You know after Heartless, homunculus, dragons and Mushra's transformation, I'm not that surprised to hear that." He confessed.

"True. Ever since I've met you guys these incredible things have been happening." Mushra also confessed.

"Alright people let's head back to Radiant Garden and rethink our plan. Perhaps Yuffie found something new about the Angels or the star of Abis."

"Wait…what did you say?" Chrono asked not completely sure if what he heard.

"What? That we should rethink our plan?"

"No about the star of Abis. What's that?"

"That's what the meteor is called that caries dark power. The Angels seem to know how to tame it as soon as it makes his round along a couple of worlds."

"So it's not a legend." The devil softly mumbled to himself.

Yuffie no longer managed to stay awake any longer. The whole day she had been stuck in the library, looking for information about the Angels of light or the star.  
The only thing she did find was another old report from Ansem about some ritual and the kind of circle needed for that.  
Half of that report was nowhere to been seen and found, just as it was the case with most of Ansems reports.  
The ninja girl was bouncing of the walls with energy most of the time except right now. On the background she could hear the sound of paper being moved and pages being turned.

"Leon." She called out sleepily.

"Yeah."

"Did you find anything?"

"No. But Cid might have found the place where the other half of the prophecy might be. He and Tron are working overtime to decrypt the file Ansem made a long time ago."

"And did they find anything?" She asked as she rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes.

"Yeah. Some coordinates of a remote place. Some kind of library Ansem used to visit once."

"Could it be that he gathered info on the Heartless there?"

A moment of silence fell.

"Could be." Leon finally answered.

Again silence.

"Is Cid going to tell Sora?"

"You don't want to be here anymore do you?"

"Nooooo! I can't take it any longer spending time in this oversized bookshelf!" She called out loudly.

"Perhaps it's time to take a brake.

With a loud poof Leon dropped the book he was holding in front of the ninja girl on the wooden table.

"How about we go and look for Cynder and we'll grab a bite to eat. I want to ask her so many questions." She suggested.

"Isn't she with Merlin?"

"Aerith took her with her into the city. And you know how long Aerith can stay there when she's looking for Cloud."

"Welcome to Radiant Garden!"

"Wow who would have guessed there where so many other worlds out there." Genki said in awe.

"More then you can count."

"They say there are just as much worlds as there are stars in the sky." Mushra added.

"I'm impressed." Satella stated as she looked around.

"Could we skip the ten cenz tour. Az is beginning to get a little heavy." Edward said.

The older of the two brothers had taken the sleeping girl from his little brother, carrying her on his back. With a peaceful face her arms loosely hung over his shoulders.  
With a smile on his face Sora led the way towards Merlin's house.

"Melin!" The Keyblademaster called out happily.

"Sora thank heavens you're here. I've got some terrible news."

"That's not something we want old man." Edward told the wizard.

Quickly he walked towards the bed in the small room and gently laid the sleeping girl on it.

"Alright what's the bad news?"

"Well I've been trying to locate the star trough the telescope I've placed on the small plateau near Ansems lab."

"Yeah so?" Sora asked impatiently.

"According to my calculations you've got three days until the star is in place to be tamed by the Angels."

"Only three days to go and Malificent has already got three angels."

"Genki you told us before that she's behind all of this. Who is this Malificent?" Mushra suddenly asked as he laid down the purple dragon next to the sleeping girl.

"She's an evil witch who tries to rule the universe and that she's used the Heartless before. At least that's what I've found out so far." Genki explained.

"But Merlin I thought that after she confronted the Nobody's and the organization that she was…you know." Sora asked the wizard.

"Never underestimate her Sora. As you might remember you have defeated her before on your first journey. She came back after that so I'm not surprised that she's alive."

"So she wants these Angels. Then she must have known that Rosette is one as well, which means Aion could have known about it so that means…"

"That Aion and that witch are working together." Edward finished Chrono's sentence.

"She must have promised him something if he is willingly helping her."

"When you where out we've decided to pay Tron a visit. With the help of Cid they found something in Ansem's computer. The coordinates of an old library." The wizard told them suddenly.

"Could it be that the other half of the prophecy is there?" Genki thought out loud.

"Cid has left those coordinates in the computer. He wanted to wait until you return before he made a navigationgummy of them."

"Alright we'll go right to him." Sora said to Merlin with a smile on his face.

"Hey do you mind watching over that dragon and the little girl." Edward asked the wizard.

"Oh but I was supposed to help Aerith…."

"I'll do it. Azmaria is a friend of mine." Satella offered.

Edward nodded with a small smile before he followed the others outside of the small cabin.

"We'll better be going. Thanks Merlin." The Guardian thanked before closing the wooden door.

While the group of chosen walked towards the large castle, Chrono clutched his hands even tighter on the pocket watch he saved. This didn't went unnoticed by Mushra.

"Hey, Chrono why do you keep guarding that thing like that? I understand that it must be special for you but you can keep it in your pocket right?" He asked.

Both heroes came to an halt.

"You don't get it Mushra. This isn't an ordinary watch, this is her life." The devil explained.

"Her…life?"

For a moment the two looked up at the rest of the group who walked back to them.

"Yes her life. This watch doesn't tell time, it tell how much years Rosette Christopher still has to live. Every day she will lose another week or maybe a couple of months from her livespan, depending on the situation."

"What kind of situation?" Genki asked.

"I'm…I'm not human."

"Neither am I but I'll bet you're not Enterran or something like that." Mushra said with a smile.

"No. I'm a devil. Born in the kingdom of Pandemonium. I've…I've betrayed my mother with a couple of my devil brothers and sisters. When my brother killed our queen, our mother, I regretted what we did and pulled away from my brothers plan."

"You're brother is Aion right?" Sora asked suddenly when he remembered the white devil calling Chrono his brother.

The devil nodded.

"Yes, my big brother Aion. I saved another reincarnation of Mary of Magdalene from his clutches and made a contract with her so I wouldn't die of my wounds. When she died I stayed in her tomb for fifty years until Rosette woke me up.

Softly he rubbed his thumb over the cool glass of the watch.

"Aion took her little brother away from her, so against my will I made a contract with her. She became a nun of the order of Magdalene, an organization that kills demons and devils, and I went with her to protect her. I promised I would get her brother back, that promise is the core of our contract."

"What…what does a contract with a devil mean?" Edward asked.

"It depends. But most of the time the devil will take away energy from the contractor until the contract is broken. In my case It's not to become stronger, but to get enough strength to transform into my real form to protect her."

"So that's when her life is shortened?" Sora asked.

"Every time I transform, I take away a piece of her lifeline. There isn't a day when I don't feel guilty about it."

"Listen Chrono, don't you think she feels the same?"

Surprised he looked at the Guardian who looked at him with a face full of understanding.

"Don't you think she feels just as guilty because she knows that every time you change, every time you take a piece of her time, you feel guilty. She probably knows you didn't want her life. But It's equivalent exchange and you agreed to it and both of you can't turn back now." The older alchemist said to him.

"You know maybe after we've saved her, there will be a way to break the contract." Sora suggested.

"You think that's possible?"

Ed raised his shoulders once again.

"We've been to worlds, traveled between stars, saved dragons from even bigger dragons and fought Heartless. I didn't think it would be possible if you told me about all this last week." The alchemist told him with a grin.

"You know I always figured that devils where creatures that took away souls of humans." Genki wondered out loud.

Chrono couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"We're not all like that. Most of us anyway." He explained.

"Come on guys we have to move on if we want to hurry and save the Angels." Sora told them with a smile.

With an knowing look on his face Mushra kept walking next to the devil.

"You love her don't you." He said softly.

"What!" The devil said startled.

"You love her. Your contractor, I can see it on your face when you talk about her."

"Is it that clear?" He asked with a blush on his face.

"Like glass. That's why you're feeling guilty right? Because you love her and don't want to lose her."

With a deep sigh he slowly followed the three boys walking in front of him.

"She…gave me a reason to live. When she and her brother woke me up, they changed my life and they changed me. Rosette showed me friendship and love. She's reckless, violent and loud but she's also kind and carrying if she wants to. She's my most precious thing in the world."

"That's what kinda happened with me and Yakumo. She saved me in more then one way."

"Come on you two! I want to get there before dark!" Sora shouted.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where…Where am I?"

Clear violet eyes looked confused and sleepily around him. Slowly he stretched his wings and noticed everything was sore.

"Spyro." An familiar voice called out.

"What…Cynder is that you?" The purple dragon asked with an soft voice.

"Yes you idiot it's me. Do you know any other black dragons?"

A small smile came on his face when the features of the young Cynder came into view.

"Cynder! I'm so glad you're save!" He called out before he jumped off something soft.

"Thanks to Mushra. He pulled me out of the darkness worse then that of the Dark Master."

"The Guardian saved me as well….I was afraid I would lose myself."

"Don't be afraid little one, as long as you keep believing in yourself I'm sure the darkness won't win." An angel-like voice told him.

For the first time since he woke up, Spyro noticed the human girl that sat on the small bed. Her silver colored hair shone in the light of the setting sun.

"Spyro this is Azmaria. She came with the chosen ones." Cynder explained.

"They all left to a library with some kind of machine that can help them. At least that is what the ninja girl told me." The young apostle explained.

"Shall we follow them? I want to tell them all about the one who captured us."

"Do you remembered what happened Spyro? I can't seem to have any memory from the point on where those weird apes captured us"

"I'll tell you everything on the way. Are you coming with us Azmaria?"

The little girl nodded.

"I would like to meet the others. I do hope Satella won't be to worried when she comes back with dinner."

"Don't worry Az we'll probably be back before then. Besides you've got us we'll protect you." The black dragon assured her.

* * *

"Sora. It took you longer then I figured to get here." Cid told him with a large grin on his face.

"You know the castle is just like an maze Cid. It's a miracle that we're here so fast!"

"So you've got the coordinates to a place where we can find the rest of the prophecy?" Genki asked.

The older man nodded.

"Me and Tron here decrypted every secret file from Ansem."

In the mean time the man knocked on the machine standing next to him.

"So?"

"Next to a complete unknown report about the Heartless, we've found some places and we think one of those worlds could contain the other half of the prophecy."

"Secured and isolated I presume." Mushra sighed.

"But of course. There should be a special way to get to this library."

The alchemist sighed.

"Just our luck. Why can't things go a little easier for once."

"But nii-san, it's not fun when everything is easy."

Edward swore he could hear a faint tone of enjoyment in his brothers voice.

"Cid can you whoop up an navi-gummi for us?" Sora asked.

The man laughed at the group. Confused the boys looked at each other.

"Sora, Sora, Sora. Who do you think I am? I've been waiting so long for you guys that I've already made an navi for you. Just need to install it on the ship."

"I didn't expect any less from you Cid. But how long is it going to take old man?"

"Couple of hours at most. You can leave after dinner if that's what you want."

"Alright! Thanks for the trouble Cid." Mushra thanked him.

"Oh right before I forget. These are Genki and Chrono the last chosen ones." Sora introduced.

"Hey there guys."

"How about we eat before we discuss anything further." Edward suggested.

"I want to see if Azmaria is awake yet." The younger alchemist told his brother.

"Well we can always hear your story during dinner Genki." Sora suggested.

The Monster champion nodded.

"So here you are." A soft voice called out.

In the opening that led to Ansem's computerlab stood Azmaria, with on each side of her one dragon.

"Az thank heavens. I was afraid you planned to sleep for days." The older alchemist sighed in relieve.

"I admit I'm not sure how long I've been out." The apostle girl admitted.

"Same here. Everything alright Genki?" Spyro asked his companion.

Again the champion nodded.

"It's a shame that our plan didn't work out right Spyro. I think Malificent already pulled that devil to her side."

"Wait a minute guys! Malificent is behind this?" Cid asked.

"So it seems. I was hoping she would stay away after everything that happened last time." Sora explained.

"Now I still don't know who exactly Malificent is and why she wants you dragons." Mushra demanded to know.

"Like I've said before she's and evil witch that can command the Heartless and want to rule the universe. I'm not sure what she wants with the dragons…but I've got this hunch that it's part of some kind of ritual." Genki explained. "A few days ago I was thrown into some kind of dungeon when Spyro was put in my cell."

"That's right. Soon we found a plan to escape that dungeon. But the first time it didn't end well….especially for Holly." The dragon continued.

"What do you mean?" Cid asked.

"When we tried to break out the first time, Pete caught us. Holly was the one…who paid for our mistake…I don't know what they did but we could hear her scream in pain."

Angry Genki made tight fists of his hands and tears seemed to appear any moment by the memory of what happened.

"After that first time I had to watch how Cynder lost her soul to one of those Heartless and became an Heartless dragon. Then I figured that we could best betray that witch then working against her. Genki pretended he wanted to be on her side and finally I was melted with one of those Heartless."

"It's just that Spyro is different then Cynder. His heart is stronger so he managed to stay out of the darkness for a few more hours…but he to became an Heartless dragon."

"I'm grateful for you help Guardian. You saved me."

"No problem and just call me Mushra."

"Hey Tron, how about you give us an projection of the place we're supposed to go?" Sora suddenly asked.

"_No Problem Sora. Image Loading and projected…" _A voice called from the machine on which Cid leaned.

On one of the steal walls appeared an projection from an cold looking world. Snow and ice surrounded a temple like structure.

"That world!" Spyro suddenly said.

"You know it?"

"Yeah I've been there before. The Chronicler lives there. I think he might be able to help you. He knows a lot about the history of some places."

"Then that's where we're going. He's sure to know something about this prophecy."

* * *

That night Mushra wasn't able to sleep at all. Every time he closed his eyes the image of an smiling Yakumo appeared.

"Yakumo." He whispered in a sigh.

"You love her don't you?" Chrono suddenly whispered with a grin on his face.

The young devil slept on the floor between the Guardian and Azmaria.

"So very much. If you could only imagine how much I've done for her. She's the one who gives me strength to keep going."

"Such a person is rare Mushra. I wouldn't let her go If I were you."

"I did make a promise that I would marry her. But Rosette is the same to you right?"

"Yeah. But it's not like we have the time to work on our happily ever after. She might have two years tops, maybe even less. But if she dies I'll go with her." Chrono explained.

"Did you tell her yet? That you love her I mean."

"You know love is strange. It keeps you from sharing your feelings with someone you really care about and I'm not sure how Rosette will react when I do tell her. I doubt she'll remember that little fling we had."

"Fling?"

"Satella threw a small party at her mansion in San Francisco last week. Rosette was so drunk I'll doubt she remembered that she kissed me…and how we ended up spending the night…. The next day she acted like it was all jake between us and I was afraid to remind her of what happened. I wasn't to keen on having holy water for breakfast. "

Mushra softly snorted.

"You know I didn't know how Yakumo felt when I told her. But I do know that you should wonder if you don't regret it if you never say it."

"But I'm sure you're not responsible for an early demise of your loved one. If she does feel the same I'll die of guilt."

"You know Chrono…she did die en not such a long time ago. It was my fault I could have saved her."

"How did she…"

"A Guardian sacrificed herself so Yakumo could live again. I know this because all Celestial Gueardians are connected."

"Like devils are connected."

A moment of silence fell.

"What's the deal about this prophecy everyone keeps talking about?" The devil suddenly asked.

"Sora showed me it once. It's just some guidelines for him to find us. There should be a second part on how to stop the taming of the star but that's missing."

"And do you think the Chronicler has all the answers?"

"I hope so. Spyro and Cynder are sure he knows more about all of this." Musrha answered.

The warm morning sun barley let down his light on Radiant Garden when Sora woke up.  
He was surprised to see that his traveling companions where already awake. Stretching his arms above his head he let out a loud yawn.

"Have you guys been awake for a long time?" He asked.

"A couple of hours. We couldn't sleep." The alchemist confessed.

"Aren't you tired?"

Most of the small group nodded while the rest just stared out in front of them.

"We're to worried Sora. Our loved ones are captured and we don't even know what Malificent is up to. We don't even know is she needs them alive of dead."

"Chrono is right. Because we don't know what's about to happen with them, it seems that every one of us get these nightmares and we're afraid to go back to sleep."

"Not that we can with Colonel Bastard snoring." Edward grunted as he shot a dirty look in the direction of where the Colonel slept.

With a loud bang the front door of Melin's house suddenly opened. In the doorway stood Cid with a smile of satisfaction on his face and a toothpick between his teeth.  
With a startle the Colonel woke up from his position nearly falling from the wooden chair he was sleeping on.  
Edward couldn't help but smile as he watched the Flame alchemist glaring daggers at the older man before helping himself to some coffee.

"I did it again!"

"Is the navigationgummi ready?" Alphonse asked.

The mechanic nodded, still wearing the broad grin on his face.

"Cid…what else did you do?" Sora asked skeptical.

"Not that much. Just installed the latest on warpgummie technology. You can arrive at your destination in almost half the time."

A soft moan suddenly came from the bed on which Azmaria and the two dragons peacefully slept.

"Spyro get off." Cynder whispered half sleepily to her dragonfriend.

The small purple dragon has rolled onto Cynder during the night and her moaning in his ear woke him up.

"I would wake up if I were you. We're about to leave." Sora announced.

"Do you really need us?"

"You've been there before right Spyro? Maybe you can lead us to the Chronicler and perhaps he knows what happened to you or if you're still able to go home." The Keyblademaster suggested.

"Spyro let's go with them. They're right he could tell us if the others are still alive."

For a moment the purple dragon looked into the green eyes of the girl beside him. She gently nodded letting him know that she would go with whatever he decided.

"Alright we're coming with you."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	18. The Chronicler

**I know I said I would upload every day this week, but this chapter was much longer then I expected. At least there won't be many more updates left since I've decided to translate the chapters as a whole to upload them. So expect more of these, around 20 pages or more, long chapters.  
Sorry again if there are any grammar errors in this, English isn't my first language.**

Disclaimer: I don't own, Shinzo, kingdom hearts, disney related things, final fantasy related characters, monster rancher, fullmetal alchemist, spyro and related characters and monster rancher + chrono crusade.

**The Brotherhood of Heroes**

**The chronicler.**

"Hey Cid?" Edward suddenly asked when he neared the gummiship.

"Yeah."

"How does this thing work? I mean what does it fly one anyway?"

"Very simple Edward. It flies on happiness."

For a minute the young alchemist burst into a laughing fit.

"No really?" He asked still grinning.

The face of the mechanic was stern and serious.

"Really." He replied.

The boy cleared his throat when he noticed that the man wasn't kidding.

"Happiness gives off an strong kind of energy which we can convert into the fuel to keep this baby flyin'." Cid continued.

"Really?" Ed asked again.

"Yeah, so if you guys are all gloomy be prepared to fall down." A slight grin appeared on Cid's face when he said that.

"But I'm sure you guys will keep those positive attitudes." He added as he walked passed the stunned alchemist and patted him on the shoulder.

With a slightly frightened look he kept staring at the large, brightly colored, vehicle in front of him. If what Cid said was true then it was still a miracle that they've gotten so far.

"Azmaria, I wondered if you vould vake up at all."

When the little apostle opened her eyes, the face of the jewelwitch was the first thing she saw that morning.

"Miss Satella!"

"Good. You seem to be alright." The woman sighed.

A little tired she looked around the small house.

"Where are the boys?" She asked noticing their absence.

"They are getting ready to leave."

Before the redhead could stop her, Az already made her way out of the warm bed and trough the front door.  
It didn't take long before a sigh of relieve escaped her as she noticed the familiar looking spaceship.

"Wait!" She yelled as loud as she could.

It was Alphonse who turned around and noticed her.

"Please let me come with you!" She begged.

"No Az. You're one of the chosen angels just like Rosette. You'll have to stay here where you're save." Chrono told her as he walked towards her carrying a large crate of supplies.

"I don't think she will be save here Chrono. We left Yakumo here not to long ago and she got captured." Edward told him.

"I agree with Ed. When she's with us we can keep an eye on her to make sure she's save."

"Mushra, she'll just be in our way." Even Sora said.

"No, no! I can help. Since I've been here if felt my powers have been growing again. I…I think I can heal you. Please let me go with you. Rosette is a friend of mine, I want to help her."

"Aru and I will make sure she's save." The blonde alchemist assured the group.

"Really?" The girl asked him with a shimmer in her eyes.

He nodded with a smile on his face that quickly turned into a grin.

Sora sighed.

"Alright then. Hop in."  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

An icy wind caressed the sober trees of the strange kind of land. A mixture of snow and ice covered the once so green ground.  
Every once in a while small spots of grass could been seen amongst the icy blue glow the landscape was covered in.  
A large mountain on their left caught the attention of the chosen.  
Not because the mountain was the biggest thing around, not because two large dragon statues seemed to be guarding the entrance of a cave and not because two large white birds just flew over their heads.  
No, it was the large black shadow who blocked the entrance of the cave that stood out the most.

"Shit." Sora softly cursed.

"Spyro is there a way around the mountain? Not that we wouldn't rather fight that thing, but it should be a waste of time and energy if we do."

The purple dragon nodded to the Keyblademaster in understanding.

"There is a way, but we'll get spotted by the Heartless no matter what."

"What if I distract it?" Cynder proposed.

"No! I don't want you taking any risks Cynder." Spyro scolded.

"Do you have a plan."

The black dragon paid no attention to the words of her friends and nodded towards Genki who asked her the question.

"I control the power of fear. I'll just make a couple of fear-waves and you guys can go past them. He'll be petrified until the spell wears out, by then you guys will be long gone."

"No. Cynder what if he's unaffected by your screams? It is and will always be an Heartless. A creature of darkness and that is where your powers come from as well." Spyro tried again.

"Do you have a better idea?" The female dragon asked with an angry look on her face.

"A couple of us could fight those things so that the other can slip past them." Mushra suggested.

"Are you sure? I mean there must be dozens more Heartless further on. We should be saving our strength."

"I agree with Genki. We all haven't slept well and are exhausted because of that. Are you sure you want to waste your energy with fighting that thing?" Chrono asked the Guardian.

Mushra sighed deeply and nodded. Knowing his companion was right.

"Should I distract him with alchemy? A couple of pillars should be enough to keep his attention from us." Edward suggested.

"That's a great idea nii-san!" Alphonse whispered excitedly.

"Wait! Everyone look it's leaving!" The little girl called out relieved.

"Why would it leave?" Spyro wondered out loud.

A little confused the small group kept looking at the large creature that slowly walked away from the entrance it was guarding.

"So we'll go trough the cave?" Azmaria asked softly.

"No, what if it's still nearby or it's simply a change of the guard. We'll probably get caught." Mushra answered.

"We'll take the detour Spyro knows." Sora suggested.

The dragon nodded before running ahead.

"Hurry before it comes back!" He called out still running and leading the way.

Quickly the others followed.  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Spyro can I ask you something?" Edward said suddenly.

Having long since past the entrance of the cave and now walking around the mountain. His surroundings seemed to look like a land trapped in the start of winter with every step.

"Sure."

"Why do you think this Chronicler can help us?"

"He lives at a place with so many books you won't believe it. He keeps records of the dragon history in those books, but I'll bet he'll know a thing or two about the star. He's a dragon of time you see and much older then he looks."

"Where does he live anyway?" Genki asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.

Spyro smiled and pointed at a large temple not far from them.

"Figures! How could we have missed that!" Sora said with a grin.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moment the chosen reached the enormous door of the temple, it was Azmaria who noticed something first.

"Before we go in everyone..don't you think…it's strange that we haven't run into more Heartless?" She asked with a soft voice.

"Don't worry Az. I'm sure they'll still be looking out for us at that cave." Alphonse assured her.

"Still…wouldn't they be waiting for us here?" she asked.

"I don't know if we traveled on a path others that isn't used much."

"It's used Sora. I remember the gate we just passed. You have to go trough there if you want to reach the temple. If you went trough the cave or around it doesn't matter you'll always have to go trough that gate." Spyro told them.

"So…we should have seen more of those creatures right?" she asked again.

"Let's keep our eyes open. I don't know if Malificent knows we planned to come here. It could be that she wasn't sure that this world was even worth sending in more Heartless then that." Sora thought out loud.

"But it could also be that she has an ambush set up inside." Genki guessed pointing at the large door.

Sora nodded towards his comrades and noticed how Ed was startled by the girl who clutched herself onto his arm.

"Hey don't be afraid. We promised we would keep you save right." The older brother whispered.

"How about I check out the temple, too see if there's any of those Heartless inside." Cynder suggested.

With a look of worry from her dragon friend was enough for Cynder to start objecting.

"Stop worrying. I can take care of myself and I can fight. I'm just going to slide under the door and check the place out. When those things are in there they won't be able to see me." She explained.

Spyro softly chuckled.

"Alright but be careful."

Quickly she licked his cheek before sinking into the ground surrounded by a thick black mist.

"What just happened?" The devil asked surprised.

"She…she kissed me." The purple dragon stuttered.

"I assume you can now die happily, but I think Chrono meant how she just disappeared into the ground." Sora explained.

"Oh that. Well Cynder can control, fear, poison, wind as well as shadow. She can melt with the shadows to slide underneath closed doors and such without anyone seeing her."

It didn't take long before a loud clicking sound was heard followed by the graceful mist sliding underneath the large stone door.  
With a elegant turn the black dragon shot up from the soil again.

"Everything is clear. No Heartless in sight. I already opened the door for you guys which you may have heard."

"Way to go Cynder!"

While the group slowly walked into the temple it was the female dragon who stood still for a moment and kept looking at the purple dragon.

"You okay Spyro?" She asked.

With a dreamy look he kept looking at her and slowly nodded.

"You sure? You look kinda…odd."

"You…you kissed me."

"To thank you for finally letting me go a little bit. I'm not that small dragon cub you saved a couple of years ago. You don't have to protect me all the time."

"I'm sorry. I'm just afraid I might lose you again."

"Hey Spyro hurry up, we're supposed to be following you!" Genki told him with a smile.

The laughter of the other chosen ones filled the temple.  
The dark, round, room in which they stood was smaller then the building made it seem.  
Surrounding the chosen where four round doors, in the centre of the room a large, shallow, pit was lit up by a couple of candles.

"So where do we need to go?" Cynder asked Spyro with a soft voice.

"Chronicler! It's me Spyro. We need your help sir."

Loud footsteps suddenly echoed from one of the doors. From the shadows , a dragon who was much larger then Spyro and Cynder, carefully stepped into the dim light.  
He whore something that looked like a saddle made from a soft fabric resting against his sides. From the large pockets in the saddle-like thing Sora could make out the edges of what looked like a feather sticking out.  
Gracefully the dragon walked towards the centre of the room. It was clear now that the creature carried a look of wisdom in his eyes.

"I was expecting you." He said with a calm voice.

"Then you know why we're here." The devil whispered.

The white dragon nodded.

"My name is the Chronicler, like you might already know. You are here to search for the prophecy am I correct?" He asked.

"That's right. Do you know anything about this prophecy or the star of Abis?" Sora asked hopeful.

Again the large dragon nodded.  
The boys smiled to each other. Finally they were going to find out why they we're chosen to do this.

"Just follow me." He said while gesturing to the group to follow him.

A large door covered in darkness and joined with the stone wall. Behind the door Mushra could see a giant hourglass as well as a whole line of bookcases stuffed with ancient looking books and scrolls.  
Blue light, which seemed to come from the outside, lit up the whole room.

"Unbelievable! Not even the Central library has this many old books." Edward whispered as he let his gaze slide over the many tittles.

"This is my library. My task is to write down the history of the dragons and keep track of important events of my people. From the birth of the first purple dragon until the story of Spyro, Cynder and every other creature ever born in the dragon kingdom." The old dragon explained.

"Do you know what happened with the other half of the prophecy?" The Keyblademaster asked.

"No, I don't."

Disappointed Sora let down his head.

"But I might remember what the other half said. It is writing of my hand after all."

"That has to be more then five hundred years ago!"

"That's correct Gueardian of Shinzo."

With a deep sigh the creature placed himself on the stone floor.

"Forgive me. My age won't allow me to stand for so long. If you have any questions on the prophecy I'm glad to answer them."

"What do you know about the star? How is it made and what is it exactly that gives it so much power?" Chrono asked.

"That my child is part of an old legend that went with a group of devils to another world a long time ago. According to the legend the star was born on a world where devils and humans lived together in peace. When the star was made the devils left and took this legend with them."

"I never knew that we could live along side humans!" Chrono called out surprised.

"They used to yes. I have a book on that world lying around here somewhere…let me look."

With much effort the Chronicler stood up and walked to one of the bookcases.

"It's supposed to be around here somewhere…"

"Do you want any help searching?" Alphonse asked.

"No, here it is."

A thick book covered in brown leather slowly floated from it's place on the shelve. The outside of the book looked like new, but the thick layer of dust told otherwise.  
The pages fluttered trough the musky air until it stopped on the last page.

"The history of the world Abis has always been one of happiness. Until the king of the sky became jealous of the bond between the devils and the humans. A war was prevented by the queen of Abis. I'm not sure why the star was made but after it happened the devils left and that world died."

While the Chronicler told his story, the book showed the chosen different pictures of the history of Abis. On the last page a silhouette of a woman with the universe on the background was shown before the book closed itself.

"So whatever happened on Abis, is the reason why all this is happening?" Azmaria asked.

Again the dragon nodded.

"What about the angels? How do they fit into this?"

"My dear Keybarer. All I know is that the angels are beings with a pure heart and that they are connected with the chosen ones in some way. Whoever can control the purity of their hearts can control the darkness in the star."

"How could we stop that?"

Before the old dragon could answer Genki's question, the door of the library opened once more. Yellow beady eyes looked at them with a fierce look.

"No not now!"

"They're just shadow Heartless Genki. We can handle them." Mushra assured him.

Before the Heartless could attack, a wave of black mist hit the group of small black creatures.  
From that mist Cynder appeared, growling at the enemy. Her claws where stretched, wings spread out wide. The mist spread out fast towards the creatures who waved their small claws in front of them to get the black substance from their eyes.  
Mushra saw his opportunity and stretched his arms forward. A small bal of fire formed between his hands before he threw it at the confused shadows.  
Some of them left with a trail of smoke. Others managed to free themselves from Cynder's black mist.

Even Sora made use of the temporary blindness of the creatures and slipped past them towards the round entrée hall.  
With a easy throw of his Keyblade Sora managed to defeat most of the Heartless in the room.  
In the end it was Edward who used his alchemy on the ground to make the last horde of shadows disappear.  
The few who did manage to enter the library where quickly disposed off by Spyro, Cynder and the devil thanks to their sharp claws.

A little out of breath Sora re-entered the library again.

"So they knew we where here. Is everyone alright?" He asked.

Genki sat kneeled besides the small girl, who watched as the chosen one healed the wounds of his comrades.

"We sure are lucky that we came out of that without any problems. Do you think more are on the way?" The suit of armor asked.

"Maybe, but you can't wait to find out. You have to leave now!" The Chronicler pushed.

"But…how could we stop that star of Abis?" Sora asked quickly.

The white dragon slowly shook his head.

"I have something for the Guardian before you all leave."

Slowly he turned away from the group and walked towards a small chest resting on a large wooden desk. From the chest the wise dragon pulled out three golden feathers. All three shimmered in the blue light.

"These are feathers of a Gueardian, combined with the fire of the mother of dragons. These feathers can even pierce the darkest of darkness."

Carefully Mushra took the feathers from the dragon.

"There only three of them. Does that mean they can only be used one time?"

"Yes. So use them wisely."

"Shall we go?" The Keyblademaster asked the others.

"Where too? Radiant Garden?" Genki asked.

Sora nodded.

"Not like we have any choice right now. Maybe Tron knows where the Angels are."

"But that is simple dear Keybarer. The angels will be where it all began. Abis." The wise dragon told him.

"Thank you for your help Chronicler."

"Spyro, Cynder what are you planning to do?" Mushra asked.

"We'll stay here. Our world needs us too and not just because of the Heartless." Spyro explained.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Chosen!" A loud familiar voice suddenly bellowed from outside.

"Aion?" Chrono whispered before he ran towards the entrance with a angry face.

"Come out if you dare!"

Before the devil reached the, heavy stone door, he was pulled back by the Guardian.

"We can't take him right now Chrono. We're all tired and we don't know if we have the energy to take him on."

"Have you forgotten what happened last time? He just threw us in the air like we're nothing." Edward reminded him.

"But he knows where they are. He knows where Rosette and the others are." The devil hissed between bared teeth.

Both Mushra and Edward could see the hatred in his eyes, the will to rip the man into pieces.

"Mushra let him go." Sora said softly.

"But Sora!"

"Let him go. He's right, Aion is the only one who knows where the angels are right now. If we can't hit it out of him now then when? When Malificent tamed the star?"

Calmly the Guardian let go of the devil's arms.

"Alright then. We'll be right behind you Chrono. Maybe we do have a change if we work together."

Chrono nodded.  
Slowly Genki pushed the door open. The devil dressed in white was standing a few meters in front of the temple, a big grin on his face. Edward motioned towards Azmaria to stay in the hall.

"Where are they!" Chrono yelled with rage.

Aion's grin widened.

"With Malificent of course my dear brother. But that might be something you could have guessed."

"Why? Why are you doing this? I thought you dreamed about bringing Eden on earth?"

"Our dream Chrono." Aion corrected him.

The purple haired boy shook his head.

"It was my dream, until you decided to betray our kind and kill our mother. Now I'll ask you one more time. Why are you doing this!"

"The witch promised me to give me a part of that dark power. When I have that I can bring down Eden not only on our world, but also on other worlds. I will rule the universe."

"And you believe her!" Sora yelled at her with a smile.

"What are you doing?" Ed whispered.

"I've got a plan." The Keybarer whispered back.

"Why shouldn't I?" The devil asked back.

"Because she's a witch. She needs you to do her dirty work and that's why she's promising you power and other great things. But in the end she'll dump you or kill you." Sora explained.

"Do you think she can kill me?" He asked followed with a loud laughter.

"Wake up Aion. She's using you and might be more powerful then you! One glass of holy water and your gone and dead." Chrono tried, catching on to Sora's plan.

"Whatever you just said I believe. But that won't stop me from learning how to tame the star myself and take all the power to kill her."

Aion let loose a maniacal laugh before snapping with his fingers. Four large shadow crawled from the ground. The group recognized the Heartless as the ones who guarded the cave.

"Get the girl." The man in white hissed.

The Heartless nodded before disappearing into the ground again.  
Chrono decided not to wait until the creatures would surface again and rushed towards the man in white.

"Rage is controlling him. His love for her must be very strong if he's prepared to be so reckless." Mushra thought.

Quickly the Enterran got into a fighting stance and pulled out his spear. The other chosen ones also got ready to fight of the dark creatures.

It was a high pitched scream from Azmaria that made de devil stop in his tracks and turned towards the temple.

"I'll let those Heartless deal with this. See you around Chrono."

Again the older devil disappeared in a pool of black. The sound of his laughter still echoing trough the sky.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Azmaria!" Edward called out in fright when he looked back into the temple.

The arms of the big Heartless where wrapped around the small body of the apostle. Part of her legs was already mixed with the small black pool underneath her.

"Help!" She screamed.

While one of the Heartless tried to pull Azmaria into the ground, three of the four creatures Aion summoned, surrounded the group.

"Guys take care of those three then Aru and I will save Azmaria." Edward shouted before sprinting back into the temple.

"Do you think we can beat them Sora?" Genki asked.

"We'll have to." The boy answered.

Chrono sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry Rosette." He whispered before watching how the shadows surrounded the chosen ones.

With a quick sprint the devil joined the others at the front of the temple, towards the first shadow he spotted.  
Swiftly he attacked with his claw like nails and managed to wound the creature.

"Are you going to fight barehanded?" Sora asked quickly.

"Do I have any other choice?"

"Magic?"

"I'm a devil I don't know magic."

Inside of the temple, the little apostle girl tried to wiggle herself from the firm grip of the Heartless but without succes.

"Az hang on!" Edward shouted before he clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground.

On the place the shadow held her firmly, two large pillars appeared. Startled by the sudden change of surroundings, the beast released it's grip on the young girl and moved swiftly away from the alchemist.  
Alphonse pulled Azmaria towards him the minute she was released, holding her close to him.

Once again the older brother clapped his hands and this time he moved his left hand over the sleeve of his red coat. Both his coat and the sleeve ripped into tinny bits when a large silver colored knife appeared on his arm.

"Nii-san behind you!" Al shouted when he noticed the shadow emerging from the ground.

With a quick turn and a powerful jab of his weapon, the shadow disappeared in smoke, leaving only the small heart that floated upwards before vanishing.  
Crying and shaking, Azmaria let herself down on the cold floor. The alchemist let his knife disappear and calmly walked towards her. With a gentle touch he pulled the apostle girl into an loose embrace.

""It's alright Azmaria. The Heartless is gone."

"Not the once outside." She said softly between sobbing.

Worried he turned around towards the entrance and noticed that the others where having trouble hitting the fast creatures. Every time the warriors came close, the shadows would sink into the ground just to pop out somewhere else.

"Go to the dragons. Stay there until we come to get you alright?"

With tears in her eyes she nodded.

"Be careful." She whispered to the boys before running towards the library.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"They are way to fast Sora!" Mushra complained while he tried to hit another shadow.

"If they would just stand still then that wouldn't be a problem." Genki said this time, trying to defend himself with a long piece of wood he found.

"Genki that's it!"

Chrono landed with a soft thud next to the Keyblademaster. Moaning a little, the devil quickly stood up ready to attack again.

"We let them stand still. Time stop!"

Sora lifted his Keyblade and pointed towards the enemy. A white light appeared around the shadows, together with faint marks of what looked like roman numbers.  
For a moment it looked like the shadows wouldn't move, but a few seconds later they just shuddered before melting with the ground again.

"It's effective but not powerful enough." Chrono noticed.

The others moved backwards towards Sora and the devil, while the large creatures kept circling them.

"They're easy to kill when you hit them." Edward told them.

"That's the problem. They are way too fast or we are just way too tired."

"Maybe not." Chrono whispered soft enough that the others could hear it as well.

"What are you planning to do?" Mushra asked.

"Stand close to me and give me cover." He ordered while he took a few steps forward.

As the devil showed his teeth and softly growled, a small black circle started to form underneath his feet. The wind started to feel stronger and the boy's growl louder and louder.  
After a few seconds his red eyes looked like they where lighting up in a bright red color, the rocks and ground beneath him turned into a pale silver color.  
Mushra could have sworn that the grass underneath his feet stopped moving in the sudden harsh wind. Still the shadows circled around the chosen, waiting for what the purple haired boy was going to do.  
When Chrono's growl turned into a loud roar, the hairs on the Guardian's neck stood up straight. Suddenly the Heartless stopped moving and Sora noticed what the devil's plan was.

"Quick attack them before they move again!" The Keyblademaster yelled.

With a swing of their weapons the boy's attacked and hit the dark creatures a couple of times until the devil dropped to the cold ground with a loud moan.  
The grass started to move again and the fierce wind died out. The shadows which just stood still disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Chrono! Chrono!" The heroes called out.

It was the Guardian who reached him first. Carefully he supported his head and held it up a little.

"He's still breathing." He assured the others.

"Let's get him inside." Alphonse suggested.  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Azmaria let out a cry of relief when the chosen returned safely. With a smile on her face she ran towards the two brothers and tried to hug them both as closely as she could.

"I'm so glad you are save." She sighed.

Immediately the two young dragons walked towards the boys.

"We wanted to help really. It's just that we had our own little problem back here with those Heartless." Spyro explained.

Sora looked surprised at the two dragons, while Mushra laid down Chrono on a large pile of pillows.

"They where inside?"

Cynder nodded to answer Sora's question.

"Another distraction. Probably to get Azmaria."

"If you didn't send me back here Edward they would have gotten me in the hall for sure." The girl whispered.

"We told you we would protect you."

"Aru is right. From now on you'll have two big brothers to look after you." The older alchemist said with a wink.

The smile on her face grew.

"I've never had two big brothers before!" She said happily.

"What did happen to Chrono? What made him pass out like that?"

"How much do you know about devils Azmaria?" Mushra asked.

"Just that they're not all that evil and that they need their horns to get their energy." She responded.

"Energy?"

"Yes, devils call it legion. It can help them transform and use their powers. Chrono doesn't have his horns anymore so he has to use Rosette's life force to get his energy. At least that is how Rosette explained it to me." She continued.

"Would he have taken a piece of her lifeline?" Genki wondered out loud.

"Did he transform? Did you see his true form?"

The boys shook their heads.

"Then Rosette's alright." The apostle said smiling.

"He managed to stop time didn't he?" The Chronicler suddenly asked.

Sora nodded.

"Then he must have used up all his energy. I am one who can control time as well, but I haven't felt such a strong power in a long time."

"I admit he does have the power and the guts to fight. But if his energy keeps dropping like this I'm not sure if we can beat Aion, let alone Malificent." Genki noticed.

"Take him to a place where it's save to rest for all of you. There is still time before the comet comes."

"If you're sure Chronicler we'll do just that. But do you know which world is save right now?" The Keyblademaster asked.

The white dragon shook his head.

"So what's the plan?"

"I say we go somewhere to regain our strength. But not Radiant Garden. Aion isn't stupid, he knows now that we don't have much left to fight. He knows that we could rest up there." Chrono said with a rough voice while he managed to sit up straight with the help of the Guardian.

"Agreed. Azmaria should be saver as well if she's not in Radiant Garden and we can think about what we'll do." Edward agreed.

"Before you leave I think I might have a solution for the problem of our young devil."

The large dragon turned towards the weakened creature.

"I have heard about an island where people have stretched their lives with the help of crystals. They could become over a hundred years old and still look like a teenager. I believe these crystals might give you the energy to fight with your power."

"What about Rosette?"

"There is a change that you can't transform without taking her time. But I'm not sure."

"I guess there is no choice but to take that change. Let's go." He said with determination.

With wobbly knees he tried to stand up, only to fall down again on the soft pillows.

"Here climb on my back I'll carry you." Mushra suggested.

"You sure you can carry all this dead weight?" The devil asked with a smile.

"Do you want to crawl to the ship?" The warrior asked back.

"Sora before you guys go I want to give you something." Spyro suddenly started.

"What?"

"If you even need me for anything, just summon me with this gem."

The dragon showed him a small purple crystal in his paw. Carefully not to brake it Sora took the jewel from him.

"Thank you Spyro."

"Genki it has been an honor working with you. We sure showed that witch who's smarter here."

"You've said it my friend."

"Do you know which world is save for us to go Sora?" The young girl asked.

The boy thought about it for a moment.

"Donald and Goofy should know. They are going to every world near Radiant Garden right now to warn the inhabitants. I'll give them a quick call."

**I'm really not looking forward to the next chapter because that is the one on which I got a major writersblock last time and it took over a year to write past that. It's not such a good chapter either so everyone just skip that when I post it and we'll go right to the climax. Just three more chapters and a epilogue and this is done!**


	19. The legend

**Remember that it took me almost a year before I anounced that the story was almost finished and such. Well during that time I got a major writersblock and this chapter is to blame. Hence why it's 34 pages long because I didn't know what to do with it. I hope it's decend at the very least.  
Sorry for any grammar errors! My first language is Dutch not English thank you.**

**on to the disclaimer: I don't own: Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts, monster rancher, FMA, Disney related characters, Final Fantasy related characters, Meitantei Conan, TNBC, chrono crusade and everything else I might have forgotten.**

The brotherhood of heroes

**The legend.**

"Sora!" A loud quacking voice called out from the screen of the cockpit.

"Donald, Goofy. Did you guys manage to warn all the worlds?" Sora asked.

"We're still worin' on it Sora. But nobody believes us." The one named Goofy explained.

"Yeah, even with the Heartless coming back, they're not listening to us." The duck named Donald continued.

"But…they have to believe you."

"Gawrsh Sora a couple o' them do. Like king Triton and Mulan. But the others only think those Heartless have returned."

"Donald, Goofy did Yuffie tell you about the star?"

The two on the screen nodded.

"Be careful Sora. I've got a bad feeling about all of this." Donald warned him.

The Keyblademaster nodded with a sad look on his face.

"Are you alright?"

"We're all very tired Goofy. To many Heartless, not enough sleep and to little time. Do you guys know a place where we can rest up for a couple of hours? You know without those Heartless."

Both of Sora's friends smiled widely at him.  
In the small recreation room of the ship, the other chosen where spread out on two large couches.  
Azmaria and Edward where huddled closely against each other. Both leaning against the metal frame of the younger Elric.  
Mushra had placed himself on the other couch, his legs dangling over the edge and his gaze up at the ceiling.  
Genki was the only one who didn't chose the comfort of the soft leather, instead he just sat on the small wooden coffee table. Listening to the engine of the ship roaring softly.

"Azmaria?"

With a tired face the little girl looked up. It was clear that all the excitement from the day was to much for her.

"Yes Mushra?"

"Will…will Chrono get his strength back soon?" The Enterran asked.

The girl nodded.

"It will take a while because he no longer has his horns. But I think with enough rest he'll be able to take on Aion."

"How did he lose his horns anyway?" The young monster trainer suddenly asked.

"Aion took them from him. Rosette and Chrono once told me how they met. I'm not sure how he lost his horns, but I do know that Aion took them from him and gave them to Joshua, Rosette's little brother."

"A human with devil's horns? That can never work."

Az nodded in agreement.

"Chrono told me the power in his horn could be to much for Joshua to bear…and then…he could die." She added in a whisper.

"What about you Az. How did you meet those two?" Edward asked her.

She smiled at her new found big brothers.

"They saved me from my stepfather. I lost my parents when I was about two years old and from there on I was placed in one foster home after the next. My last stepfather wanted to use the powers I have to resurrect his dead wife and that's when Rosette and Chrono saved me and I became a sister in the order of Magdalene."

"It looks like you've been trough a lot."

"I bring bad luck. Most of the miserable things I've seen is mostly because of me…because I have this power." She told Genki with a sad whisper.

"Nonsense." Edward told her.

For a moment the girl looked at the alchemist with a questioned face.

"If anyone brings bad luck then it's me and Al. Because somehow we're cursed whenever we travel on trains."

Alphonse laughed a little and both alchemist where stared at in the room.

"That's right. Nii-san and myself have witnessed a train being high jacked two times and with both times we thought we could just sit back and enjoy the journey." The suit of armour told them.

"The first time was a coincidence, or so we thought. The second time however I was convinced that we where cursed."

Az laughed softly.

"Lady and gentlemen. May I request that you all should change your wardrobe. We disembarking in a few minutes!" Sora voice said booming out of the speakers.

With a questioned look on his face the Enterran still kept looking at the ceiling.

"Why would we need to change?"

* * *

The grim mood that Halloweentown bared hasn't disappeared Sora noticed when he stepped out of the Gummiship and onto the cemetery.  
On his face he wore a small orange mask with a scary face on it. Two pointy fangs shimmered in the light of the full moon and on his face stood a happy smile.

"Sora I feel ridicules." The older alchemist growled.

Carefully he descended down the small stairs, wearing a long black robe, his face covered in darkness by the velvet hood and he held onto a large scythe.

"If we want to rest here then we'll have to blend in." The Keyblademaster told him like he did such things every day.

"In a dress!"

"It's a robe not a dress."

The alchemist looked up at the Guardian who was wearing a worn down tunic underneath a pale orange armour. One graceful black wing stuck out from a hole in the upper half of his armour.

"Even so. Don't you feel like a idiot Mushra?" Edward asked him.

A small smile appeared on his tired face.

"It reminds me of a tradition Yakumo once told me about."

"Edward nii-san." A small voice called down towards him as soon after the Guardian hit the ground.

"Careful Az. Don't trip over that dress."

The little girl smiled as she held her white Victorian dress up with one hand. The dress was mostly worn at the edges and her hair was held together with something that looked like a small bat. Dark rings around her eyes brought out their ruby colour.  
Carefully the older alchemist took her hand and led her down.  
Alphonse quickly followed with the small devil sleeping in his arms.  
Genki was the last to descend, his face, arms and legs where painted white and his clothes where ripped and graced with dirt stains.

"Ed is right, this is ridicules! It feels like it's Halloween." The champion noticed when looking at the clothes of the others.

"Aru you're lucky, you don't have to change into something like this." The older brother told him.

"Sora, why are we wearing this? And don't tell me we have to because…"

"Mushra, Mushra, Mushra. When you're in Halloweentown you've got to blend in or else everyone will scare the living daylights out of you."

"Hallo…ween town?"

"I've contacted my friends, Donald and Goofy. They told me Halloweentown is the safest place to rest up right now."

"Have you been here before Sora?" The little apostle girl asked.

The brunette nodded.

"You've got to meet Jack. He's a bit strange but also very nice. I think he'll let us rest for a day. Besides it's almost Halloween if I remember correctly, that's always a blast here."

"We don't have time for that remember. Chrono needs to recover his strength and then we have to find out where that island is so he can use his powers again. O yeah and don't forget our little doomstar that we have to stop." Genki scolded.

The smile on the Keybarers face didn't disappear.

"I know. But I do know that Doctor Finkelstein has this huge telescope. With that we can track down the star and find out how much time we still have."

"For what? Getting a day extra to rest up? No, Sora I would feel guilty towards the girls. We are supposed to save them, they're counting on us."

"No Alphonse not for a some more down time. Just so we can find out if we can beat Malificent before the star passes by." Sora explained.

He turned away from the group and gestured them to follow him.  
The sound of a slow jazz like music, filled the air. Halloweentown was just as Sora remembered it the first time he visited. The smell of sugar and candy floated on the wind.

"Welcome to Halloweentown!" Sora whispered.

"Nice place." Edward whispered to himself.

"Just be alert. Jack or anyone else could jump right out and scare you half to death." Sora warned.

"Literally?" Genki asked.

The young boy placed a finger on his chin and thought for a moment. After a short minute he smiled and raised his shoulders.

* * *

"Sally! Sally!"

"Yes Doctor Finkelstein!" A soft voice called out trough the large space of the doctor's lab.

"Come here child. I want to show you something!" An older voice answered back.

With unsteady passes, the rag doll named Sally, walked up the long flight of stairs. Her dark red hair dancing behind her.

"What is it doctor?" She asked when she reached the top.

A small man in a wheelchair looked at a huge metal telescope. With a quick movement of his hand he opened the iron lid that was part of his head and scratched the greyish half brain that was in there.

"Sally. Look trough here." The man ordered her.

The girl blinked a couple of times and looked at the man with a questioned look on her face, but still she walked towards the large instrument.  
She looked trough it and saw a large flaming orb, slowly moving trough the dark sky. Accompanied by the stars and planets it passed.

"What is that? It's beautiful." She asked while she kept looking at the travelling flame.

"A meteor. I've discovered it a few days ago when I was looking at the position of the stars. I've been tracking it ever since and noticed it moves closer to our world."

"Will it crash here?" She asked startled.

The doctor shook his head.

"Not according to my calculations. But it doesn't look like any meteor I've ever seen."

A worried look appeared on her face.

"Oh, I know that look Sally. What's wrong?"

"I've got this strange feeling about this…and I'm worried about Jack." She confessed.

"I've checked my calculations four times. That rock isn't going to hit us don't worry."

A moment of silence fell.

"It's not the meteor is it Sally."

She shook her head.

"He's been busy preparing things for Halloween. Give him some time and in a couple of weeks when it's all over, he'll be stress free and then he'll have some time to take you out again dear." The doctor assured his daughter as he carefully placed his hand on her arm.

"He hasn't left his house for days."

The loud noise of the large metal gate opening and closing, made the rag doll forget about her worries for a second.

"Sally!" A familiar voice called out.

As quickly as she could she walked down stairs and was surprised to see a large group standing there.

"Sora! What are you doing here?" She called out in surprise.

"Hey Sally. Do you know where Jack is?"

"Home probably. He's been there for the last couple of days. To be honest I'm a bit worried about him and I've tried everything to get him to talk to me."

"Do you want me to give it a go?" Sora proposed.

She smiled.

"If you don't mind Sora. I'm not sure what is bothering him."

"I'll do my best. Hey do you have some spare beds left? Me and my friends really need some rest before we continue."

"But of course. My name is Sally." She said while introducing herself to the group.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Azmaria and these are my big brothers. Alphonse and Edward." She said with a smile of pride and happiness on her face as she introduced her brothers.

"And these are Genki and Mushra." Sora pointed at the remaining two.

"And the little devil over there?" Sally asked.

"That's Chrono. He needs more rest then any of us. As soon as I've talked to Jack, I'll explain why we're here."

"I'll take good care of them Sora."

* * *

Long legs, impatiently stepped around the unusually steeply build house. Down the stairs, then up the stairs, walking in circles around the small living room. Jack Skellington was unable to find peace in his own house.  
A small ghost dog looked amused at the movement of his master. For a moment Jack stopped at his bookcase and pulled out a small book with a grey, leather skin.

"Zero. What should I do?" He asked the dog.

It was a question the ghost had heard many times before and he no longer looked at this master after hearing it.  
For a moment skeleton Jack looked trough the book in his hands. His gaze fell upon the picture he had stuffed in it. A picture of him and Sally infront of a snow covered Spiral Hill.  
Their first Christmas together, their first kiss. He remembered it so well.

"What should I do?" He asked again, only to himself this time.

Thinking he brought his bony fingers to his head. With a sigh he managed to drag himself to a small chair sitting in front of the window.  
With a sad look he starred onto the town square.  
There he noticed someone who he hadn't seen in some time. With him, a young boy with light purple hair and one large wing walked up towards the gates of his home.

Interested in their movements, the pumpkinking's gaze followed the two as they stopped for a minute to talk to the approaching major and after that pushing the large gate open with a loud squeaking sound.  
A wide grin appeared on his face. He was sure that Sora could help him with his problem. The young Keybarer was the one who saved Halloween town and Christmas town not so long ago after all.

"Sora, do you really think this Jack can help us?" Mushra asked as he tried to suppress a jawn.

The boy beside him nodded.

"Perhaps he knows something about he place we have to go to help Chrono."

"I hope so. It's the fact that our bodies need to rest but I'd rather…"

"I know. We'll head out as soon as possible." Sora interrupted him.

The brunette reached out towards a spider-like doorbell who gently swayed on the wind. Before he could pull on the creature, the door was already opened before him, causing Mushra to startle by the sudden act of the skeleton before him.  
For a moment he lost his balance and almost ended up at the bottom of the steep stairs the boys stood on.  
It was Jack who pulled the boy back up just in time, grinning softly.

"It's been a while since I gave someone such a scare."

With an angry look, the Enterran glared at the pumpkinking.

"I'm glad to see someone can still pull some pranks." Sora muttered. "This is Mushra a friend of mine."

"That wasn't funny." Mushra growled as he still felt his heart trying to jump out of his chest.

"Come in, come in. Perhaps you can help me with my problem." The tall skeleton gestured.

Without any second thought, the two followed the king up the long stairs to a small chamber in the tower part of the house.

"But Jack. We've come here because we need your help."

A little surprised the skeleton turned around.

"My help?"

Both heroes nodded.

"Yeah. You see our friend Chrono is a devil. But he doesn't have any horns so he can't use his powers. A wise dragon told us that there is this crystal that can restore these powers."

"A crystal?"

"Chrono can stop time. The Chronicler told us this thing should help him." Sora said.

"Stopping time huh. Hmmm…."

"Can you help us?" Mushra asked.

For a moment the king of Halloween tapped his bony finger on his chin. Thinking about the problem.

"Perhaps I can." He finally said.

Sora sighed in relief.

"Sandy Claws might know what you seek. He can stop time to deliver the presents to all the children in the world on Christmas eve."

"Sandy Claws?" the Enterran whispered to his comrade.

"Santa Claus." Sora corrected him.

Still confused the Enterran looked at the boy.

"You know. The old man that delivers the Christmas presents."

"That's always been a human tradition where I come from. It's celebrated on Enterra but most don't know why."

"Not because of the presents that's for sure. But because it brings peace on earth and good will to mankind." Jack explained.

"But can he really help us?"

Sora nodded with a grin on his face.

"But first you gentlemen will have to help me with a small problem."

"Alright Jack what is it?" The Keybarer asked.

A sad look appeared on the face of Jack Skellington and he turned his gaze towards the window.

"It's Sally. I want to do something special for her but I don't know what. I want to let her know what I feel for her but whatever I come up with just isn't good enough. The songs I write, the presents I can think of, they just don't justify with how much I love her."

"Is that the reason why you've been locked up here?" Sora asked surprised.

The skeleton nodded.

"You know Jack. It's because you stayed up here for so long that Sally has been getting awfully worried about you. She thinks you don't care about her anymore." Mushra explained.

"I…I had no idea…"

"Listen it's great that you want to show her how much you care for her. But don't you think she might imagine that something is wrong if you don't show yourself."

For a moment nothing but silence was heard.

"I'm making it worse…"

A smile appeared on the Guardians face. Tired he leaned against the wall of the small room.

"Jack?" He suddenly asked.

"Yes."

"Do you love her enough to stay with her for the rest of your life, to love her until the end of time and to die for her?"

"But of course! I would do anything for my Sally." The king answered.

"It must be pretty hard to do that last on Jack. Being dead and all." Sora grinned.

Mushra suppressed the urge to hit the boy on his head.

"You know what I mean Sora."

"But..Why?"

"Marry her." The Enterran interrupted the question.

"M…Marry?"

"Yeah Jack. If you love her that much then isn't is better if you two got hitched. Any better proof of your love for her doesn't exist."

"Mariage?"

"If you think you're not ready then…."

"Yes! I will ask her to be a part of my live and make her my queen."

A wide grin appeared on his face as the skeleton danced around the room.

"Thank you good friends. I don't see why I haven't come up with that yet. We'll leave to Christmas Town immediately to speak to Sandy about your friend."

"Christmas Town?" Mushra asked.

"Every Holliday here has an own world and it's own city from what I've found out. I'm not sure how the others look like but Christmas Town is just like your inside a snow-globe."

Nodding, the Enterran barely suppressed a yawn and Sora followed his example.

"You are both looking very tired gentlemen. We could leave tomorrow if you like." Jack proposed with a strange look on his face.

Both boys shook their heads.

"The Heartless are on the prowl again and we have to stop them. There isn't much time left and we're exhausted from our previous fight, but we have to go on. Or else everything we've done has been for nothing."

"Everything?" The king asked Sora.

"Travelling to all those world, losing the angels and the danger we put our friends in. Jack please there is no time to explain the whole situation but Malificent wants to tame this dark power inside of a meteor."

"Strange. The doctor told me just the other day that he spotted a meteor with his telescope. We assumed it was nothing….but could this be the shooting star you are talking about?"

Mushra raised his shoulders.

"Who knows." He answered.

"Maybe Santa knows more about this. He's older then he looks after all." The Keyblademaster asked.

Another smile graced the jaw of the pumpkinking.

"There is only one way to find out."

* * *

"Nii-san please. Take a rest you need your sleep."

With an uneasy pace the young alchemist circled inside the lab.

"I have this strange feeling." He confessed with a soft voice.

"Pacing back and fort in my lab isn't helping much! You are starting to get on my nerves boy!" The doctor called out with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Edward didn't pay any attention to the calls of anger. He turned his gaze towards his younger brother, in his lap Azamaria was sleeping peacefully. Her breathing slow and her face calm.

"Aru?"

For a minute the suit of armour looked up, surprised to hear some happiness in his brother's voice.

"Wanna follow them?"

"Follow?" Alphonse asked confused.

"Oh Jack is leaving!" Sally called out suddenly as she ran from the window she was standing behind to look at Jack's house.

"It wouldn't be fair if there are attacked and we're not there."

"How is that unfair?"

"Well then they would be having all the fun." Edward said pouting his lips a little.

Alphonse sighed deeply. Sometimes he couldn't understand the humour his brother had.

"I'm going." Ed told him.

"Nii-san!"

"Shhh. Don't wake Az. I'm counting on you Aru, take care of her like a big brother okay."

Before the youngest could respond the blond boy already ran after Sally.

As quickly as her weak legs could carry her, she ran towards the Hinterlands. Towards where her beloved Jack was walking along with the two chosen.  
The small group eventually found themselves surrounded by a ring of trees. On some of them, the bark had been coloured and shaped into different kind of figures. At the base of each tree, a small stack of various items lay there. From brightly coloured eggs to heart shaped boxes.

Before the skeleton could reach towards the Christmas tree it was her voice that stopped him in his tracks.

"Sally!" He called out.

"Jack…I was so worried."

"Sally, there is no need to worry. I've been having a…short lack of creativity lately. But with the help of Mushra and Sora I've got this great idea to make something wonderful for Halloween this year."

Behind him the two boys nodded widely with a grin on their face.

It was the Guardian who suddenly noticed the young alchemist running towards him.

"Ed!" He called out surprised.

"I figured you guys could use some help. You don't think you would stand a change when Heartless are going to attack you."

Sora smiled.

"But Ed, there are not Heartless here in Halloweentown. I told you that didn't I?"

"Sure but what is Aion finds us."

"That's why I came along with Sora." Mushra answered.

With a confused look Sora eyed the two boys.

"Do you think he can find us here? I mean there are at least a couple of hundred worlds out there, how big are the odds he'll find us?"

"Pretty big." Both said.

"I have this theory. Chrono and Aion are both devils right? Well what if they are connected with each other, just like we are with the angels." Edward explained.

"The same way I am with the other Guardians." Mushra added.

"You could be right about that. I've had this nauseating feeling ever since Holly was taken."

"Gentlemen please. We don't have time to discus theories. We have to get to Sandy." Jack pushed.

"Why are you going to Christmas Town?" Sally asked.

"That's a surprise Sally. But I'll be back as soon as I can I promise."

A small smile found it's way on her lips as she let go of the bony fingers of the king and nodded softly.

"Be careful she whispered to him as she walked away from the Hinterlands.

"Shall we go gentlemen?"

With a soft touch, Jack turned the gold, round orb that stuck out from the bark with the painted Christmas tree on it. A strong gust of wind came out to meet them from the new opening and with it tiny snow flakes danced on it.

"Who wants to go first?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Without any second doubt Sora immediately jumped into the dark entrance.

* * *

Enraged she pounded her fist on the table.

"Why haven't you found them!" She yelled at the large cat before her.

"Well you see…that dragon…" Pete started.

"You weren't even supposed to come near the Chronicler! You were supposed to follow the chosen with your ship!"

"B-B-But Malificent…"

"Don't be too harsh on him my dear companion. He can't help it that the chosen took another route and he did try to take one of the angels."

With a devilish smile Aion looked at a grateful Pete. Amused he took another sip of the red wine he was holding.

"We should be knowing what they are planning right now. Thanks to you Pete we are behind on schedule!"

"Let them be my dear. They'll come back into the picture sooner then you might think and they do need their rest after all. Otherwise they won't be much of a challenge."

"Don't underestimate Sora, Aion. He has defeated the darkness before and me as well."

A soft mean laugh escaped from his mouth.

"I will take care of him personally, but the game shouldn't end like this so quickly. Don't you agree?"

The witch raised her eyebrow.

"You want to deceive them?" she asked.

Aion nodded and carefully placed his Glasson the dark, wooden table beside him before walking towards the witch.  
Gently he placed a finger under her chin.

"Don't worry about a thing beautiful. I'll make sure they'll come to us and when they're here the fun will really start."

A faint blush crept onto her pale green skin, feeling his touch and looking at the smirk on his face.

"What is your plan Aion?"

"They're tired and probably resting somewhere save. We let them regain their strength so that they think they'll have a change of defeating us when they're here."

A moment of silence fell.

"But on the other hand. Maybe it's more fun to toy with them when they're here. Fool them, draining their hope, their lust for fighting. In the mean time lets find out where they're true power lies."

"I love the way you think."

"I shall wait until Chrono is awake again. Then we know where they are hiding."

"Pete prepare the ship." She ordered in a low whisper.

With an angry look the big cat stomped out of the dark filled room.  
In the cold dark cells of the dungeon, clear blue eyes looked at the little light that came trough a small window.  
The thin and light fabric of the dress she was forced to wear was no longer white and she longed to feel the sun on her skin again.

"Yakumo." A weak voice whispered.

The clear blue eyes looked at where the voice came from.

"Yes Rosette."

"Do you think they'll come for us soon? Do you think they'll know where we are?"

"I'm not sure. But we can't give up hope Rosette. Chrono wouldn't want you to give up."

A moment of silence fell.

"I'm worried about Az. I hope she's save."

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that when they find out she's one of the angels, they won't leave her unprotected."

"They didn't leave you unprotected either…" the nun started.

"They'll be here I just know it."

"What if they are already….those Heartless are fast and…." Rosette chocked.

"Their alive." Yakumo told her.

"How do you know?" another voice asked her.

"Because if they weren't, she would have come to us and crush our last hope."

"I just hope they'll be careful."

* * *

"Strange. I don't feel cold or anything here." Mushra noticed when his feet touched the pure white snow.

"We're no longer in Halloween Town right?" Edward suddenly asked while he held up the long robe.

Sora nodded.

"Good. Then I won't be needing this thing anymore." He called out with a happy voice.

With one smooth movement, he pulled his costume over his head and threw it next to the tree with the picture of a pumpkin on it.  
He straightened out his black jacket before looking around him.

"There is this strange atmosphere hanging around." The alchemist noticed.

"Of course. The warmth that Christmas brings you is here all year round." Jack said smiling.

"Alright. Let's head out to Santa's house. It's just a little down the road." Sora added with the same happiness Jack seemed to have.

With a loud creak the pumpkinking opened the heave wooden door of the brick house.

"Sandy?" He called while stuck his skull inside.

No answer.  
Curious the group stepped into the comforting room. A sudden wave of warmth came over Mushra and he could no longer hide the fatigue that plagued his body. A loud yawn was let out.  
Both Sora and Edward felt sleep wanting to take them over as well.

"Are you tired?" Jack asked.

All of them nodded.

"We've been fighting for the last two days and we haven't been able to get much sleep because of that and the captured angels of course." Sora explained.

"Angels?"

"Chosen ones that can tame the power of the star of Abis. We have to save them."

"Well as soon as we're done here you guys should take a rest. Your in no condition to save anybody like this."

"We know that Jack, but the Heartless and Aion keep bugging us."

"Don't forget Malificent Sora." Edward added.

The Keyblademaster nodded with a dull look on his face.

"Malficent? The witch that brought Oogie back to live?"

Again Sora nodded.

While the Guardian wondered who in the world Oogie was, another door in the room opened. A fat man in a red coat with a white beard stepped into the room. Followed by a small boy with large glasses and dark brown hair. The small, dark blue vest and light blue shorts made him look slightly older then he probably was.  
Even so, Mushra noticed the look in his eyes wasn't the one a child of his age should be wearing and the boy seemed to be in deep thought about something.

"Jack, Sora! You are just the ones I need to speak." The man in red said when he noticed the two.

"What about Sandy? And who is that?" Jack asked as he pointed towards the small boy.

"About something very important. Good, good. I see you brought Edward Elric and Mushra with you. I could use two more bright boys like your at the moment."

"How do you know our names?" Edward asked amazed.

"I am Santa Claus. I know every name dear boy. This is…"

"Conan Edogawa. Nice to meet you." The boy introduced with a childlike cheer.

"Right. Well follow me and let me show you why I need your help."

Still a bit confused the boys looked at each other but then decided to follow the older man trough the green door he came from.  
They quickly found themselves inside some kind of factory that was currently not moving. The red bricks of the walls where decorated with large neon lights shaped in large bells and huge candy canes.  
On the tall platform they where standing on, they could see how small elf-like men ran around with boxes of tools and brooms. Smoke was rising from on of the machines that was connected to one of the production lines.  
Presents with their contends, lay broken and sprawled out onto the floor.

"What happened to your workshop?" Sora asked in disbelieve.

"That's what I want to know. I suspect those children again."

"Lock, Shock and Barrel? Not possible. The major is taking care of the two boys and the witches are training the girl. I'm positive that they are strictly being watched by their guardians." Jack assured Santa.

Softly Mushra nudged the Keyblademaster.

"Who are these kids that he's talking about?" He whispered.

"Lock, Shock and Barrel used to be henchmen of Oogie Boogie, a bad guy who used to Heartless to take over Halloween Town. Last time they trashed Santa's workshop as well."

"So these kids are up to no good huh?" Edward asked.

Sora nodded.

"I have no doubt that that's the reason why their guardians are keeping an eye on them. They know what they can do with they're pranks and wreck Halloween again."

In the mean time the small boy had been carefully listening to the conversation.

"Santa. Could you tell us again what happened here?" Conan suddenly asked.

"But of course. I was just sitting in my office, checking the list when I heard this loud bang from the workshop. The machines seemed to be on fire and the elves where already busy putting that out. One of them noticed three small persons running away from the shop."

"Are you sure there where three Santa?" The small boy asked.

Frowning the old man nodded at Conan.

"I'm going back to Halloween Town and get those three. You guys stay here and find some clues to proof their guilt or innocence." Jack proposed.

The four boys nodded and watched the king leave the room. When the skeleton was out of view Sora stretched out his arms above his head and let out a yawn.

"You boys look tired." Santa Claus noticed.

"We've been fighting for a while now and haven't had that much sleep." Edward told him.

"If you'd like you could rest up until Jack comes back. There are some spare beds on the second floor."

"Really! That would be great thank you!"

A smile appeared on the face of the man.

"It's no trouble. Please follow me."

"You guys rest, I'll stick around to search for clues." Mushra told them.

"Are you sure? From all of us you need your rest most."

"Don't worry Ed, I'll get some sleep when we'll be departing again."

"Ah you want to solve this case don't you." Sora noticed.

"Perhaps. I must admit I miss my job." He confessed with a faint blush on his face.

"Conan is quite good at solving crimes." Santa explained.

Mushra nodded at the small boy.

* * *

With angry footsteps Jack passed trough the snow.

"Those kids! If they did this then I'll personally make sure that they will never witness another Halloween in their lifetime!" He mumbled to himself.

Then the pumpkinking stopped for a moment.

"But then again, their pranks haven't been this bad since Oogie has been gone."

With slow steps he continued his way.

From the corner of his eyes he suddenly noticed a black shadow racing past him. He stopped again, looking at the direction where he thought he saw something and noticed something in the crisp white snow. Jack walked towards it and picked up three familiar looking masks.  
With a deep sigh he once again went his way.

"Those three will be the end of me yet. That they would do such a thing."

* * *

"Shall we begin with where that explosion started mister Mushra?" Conan asked after Santa left the workshop.

"Firstly you can stop using that squeaky voice, you're no small child I know that much."

The boy looked at him with big round eyes.

"No child your age has that look in his eyes. A look that shows only worry. If I have to guess I'd say your at least seventeen."

"Is my acting weakening that much?" He asked with a serious voice.

Mushra shook his head.

"Every other would have been fooled. But you have this something that no other child has. You look more then an adult then normal and you act like that as well. If you don't pay attention to that then…"

Mushra sighed and closed his eyes.

"What happened that you've become like this Conan? Or do you have another name?"

"Eeh you are a sharp one. Alright the short version is that I noticed a couple of guys in black dealing in something suspicious. Before I knew it I was knocked out and they gave me some drugs that turned me into this."

"So you changed your name and I assume your parents do know right?"

"Not exactly. My parents don't really work in one and the same country most of the time. So my neighbour somehow made sure my friend Ran took me in. Her dad is a detective as well and I figured if I helped him solve cases that I would find those men who did this to me. To Ran and her dad I'm just Conan Edogawa but my real name is Shinichi Kudou."

"Alright then Shinichi, let's get started."

The boy nodded with a wide smile on his face. It seemed like a long time since a stranger called him by his real name.

Standing next to the machine it was Mushra who opened the small door to the inner chamber of the device.

"How is it looking in there?"

"Burned. It looks like the main wires are completely burned down with this."

The Enterran pulled his head from the slightly smoking machine and showed the little detective a stump of an orange candle.

"That's how they bought time to escape."

Carefully the smaller detective took the stomp from Mushra.

"What could it have been?" He thought out loud.

"Judging by the colour and the size of the base I would say a round candle. You know one that's mostly used for decoration."

"Hmm it will be hard to lift prints from this. How could the culprit have planted this thing without being seen? The workshop is occupied with staff day and night."

"Shinichi I think that would be a question we could ask the elves. Maybe they've seen anything besides three figures running away."

"Oh my gosh!" Someone suddenly yelled.

As quickly as they could , the tow raced towards where the yell was coming from. They soon found a small group of elves surrounding something that looked like a broom closet.  
In front of it, on the cold stone tiles, sat three of Santa's workers in their underwear.

"What happened?" Shinichi quickly asked them.

"Someone hit us on our heads and stole our clothes." One of them managed to tell him with tears in his eyes.

"Quickly someone get them to the first aid station and give them some hot chocolate before they go into shock!"

Both boys couldn't help but to chuckle softly.

"Well at least now we know how our saboteurs came near that machine." Mushra pointed out.

"If they did came in from the outside, don't you think it's strange that there are no footprints near that machine?"

"Aside from the candle, I didn't see anything suspicious Shinichi. Perhaps it was a Heartless."

"Heartless?"

"Evil critters who want to steal human hearts."

"Are they black with yellow eyes?" the boy asked.

Mushra nodded.

"Those are the things that attacked Ran!" The boy called out startled.

"That means that….are you even from this world?"

He shook his head.

"I can't remember very well how I got here. Just that everything went black and I got separated from Ran in the crowd. I went to find her and that's how I watched those things attack here. After that everything became a blur."

"What do your remember?"

"Santa pulled me from the snow and let me recover in his home. I don't remember knowing how or why I got here."

"It sounds like your world has disappeared to. Swallowed by the Heartless. I've seen it happen once with Ed's world."

"Then Ran…is she?" He asked with a look of fright on his face.

Mushra raised his shoulders.

"You survived so it is possible that she hasn't been taken by them. Come let's go outside." The Guardian suggested.

"To look for prints in the snow. Good idea."

* * *

It was the Major of Halloweentown who nervously paraded back and fort while he and Jack waited, along with two small boys, for the witch sisters to arrive.

"But Jack, we're innocent." The boy dressed up as a skeleton pleaded.

"Yeah, we didn't do nothing Jack." The boy dressed up as a devil added.

"Silence! I've got proof right here in my hands that you went to Christmastown and wrecked the factory!"

"But…but…" The two started.

"I don't want to hear it. Lock and Barrel you two have really gone to far this time."

The Major started to pace even faster on the town square. In all his time as an elected official he had never seen the king of Halloween this angry before.

"But Jack, I've been keeping an eye out for the boys for weeks now. They haven't left the house."

"Major, both you and I know what these boys are capable of. They have learned all of their sneaky tricks from Oogie Boogie after all."

"Jack!" Two high pitched, voices called out to him.

Trough the rusted gated that led towards the cemetery, two green skinned witches approached him. Behind him a small girl in a light purple witch costume followed them.

"You wanted to speak to us Jack?"

"About your plans for Halloween perhaps Jack?" The smaller one of the sisters asked.

The skeleton shook his head and showed the three masks.

All three children gasped as they noticed their belongings.

"These are yours if I remember correctly." He said calmly.

"Those aren't ours…but actually they are." The girl said.

"Tell me Shock! Why did I find these in Christmas Town, where Sandy's factory was almost blown to smithereens just a few hours ago."

Tears appeared in her eyes hearing his harsh voice.

"It wasn't our fault Jack." Lock told him as he approached the almost crying girl.

The pumkinking was almost shocked to see the change in the girl. Normally she wouldn't show any emotion and could lie without so much as a twitch of her brow. Yet here she was crying.

"Oh don't mind that Jack. She has been very emotional since she drank her own potion yesterday." One of the sisters explained as she noticed the look on his face.

"She acting more her age now Jack. We don't know if the brew is permanent or not but until then she has the emotions of any human girl." The bigger sister added.

"How do these get to Christmas Town?" He asked again only with a calm voice this time.

"I…I….We made a deal before we separated our group. The night before I went to live with the witches, we decided to bury our masks and our past with Oogie."

"Yeah Jack just believe us. We wanted to start over."

"Without being beaten when we pulled a prank." Barrel continued.

"I would….burry the masks near Oogie's manor…just over the rope bridge." The girl sobbed.

"We haven't seen them since."

"It is true. Barrel and Lock haven't worn their masks since they moved in with me." The Major suddenly remembered.

"Shock hasn't worn hers either." The sisters said simultaneously.

Jack stopped to think for a moment.

"Are there…any other suspected things you guys might have seen the last couple of days?" He asked.

"I…I saw something." Barrel started.

For a moment all went quiet as the group waited for the small boy to tell his story.

"I went back to Oogie's place to get my catapult in the middle of the night. Before I went to cross the bridge I noticed three of those beast…how do you call them again?"

"What did they look like Barrel?" Lock insisted.

"Black, small with beady yellow eyes?" He said not entirely being sure if he remembered correctly.

"Heartless perhaps." Jack suggested.

"Yeah! Yeah that's it Heartless. Those things the Boogieman used to try and take over Halloweentown."

"Oh gosh, if those things are back again. Oh gosh!" The Major started.

"Calm down Major. Sora is around and don't forget we have a hand full of chosen in town. They should be able to handle a few Heartless. How many did you see Barrel?"

"Just three. But it looked like they where digging near the bridge. I don't know why or what happened then because I ran away. But it could be that they dug up our masks."

"But why just three?" Jack mumbled.

* * *

"No footprints other then our own." Shinichi sighed.

"Almost but not quite. Look at this." Mushra pointed out as he locked underneath one of the windows.

In a small ally, between the factory and the storage building, small, fresh footsteps were visible in the crisp snow. The front of the prints seemed to be unusually long, something the little detective had never seen before.

"Who ever did this has very long toes." Shinichi commented.

"And he wasn't alone. Look at that pipe leaning against the warehouse. It's been scraping against the wall recently. See those marks?" Mushra noticed.

"So one of them escaped on the ground and the other jumped up at the pipe, probably to get to the roof."

The Enterran nodded and let the boy know he agreed with his conclusion.

"Hey there's something else!"

"What is it Shinichi?"

"The ventilation shaft up there. The lid has been removed."

"There is no snow right under there so no prints. But it's to far away from the pipe for anyone to have been able to remove the lid and there's no window on the second floor of the factory. The culprit couldn't have jumped that far could he?"

"That and the factory has no second floor. We should also be wondering why all of them separated." The child added.

The sudden sound of a door opening and closing made the boys turn around. They noticed Edward walking towards him, fatigue shown on his face.

"You couldn't sleep?" Mushra asked.

The alchemist nodded.

"I'm worried if we're going to get out of this alive."

"Well come help us with this mystery then." Shinichi suggested not having a clue why the blond boy would fear for his live.

"Thanks Conan. I'll try my best to help out."

"Just call me Shinichi."

"So it wasn't your real name after all." Ed grinned.

"You suspected it too huh."

Again Edward nodded before beginning his explanation.

"The look on your face is way to serious to be that of a mere child. It was then I started to doubt who you where."

The detective sighed.

"Alright, alright I get it. I'm not such a great actor. Can we move the case along?"

Both boys nodded.

"How could they have done it? With a rope or a ladder?" The small boy asked himself out loud.

"It could be Heartless." Edward said while he examined the footprints left in the snow.

"I agree, those prints look like they belong to those shadow Heartless. You know the smaller ones. It also explains how they could reach the warehouse without leaving to much clues. The only thing I don't understand is why they separated and why they left those clues for us." Mushra mumbled.

"What are…Heartless?" Shinichi asked.

"Small black creatures with yellow eyes who attack anyone to steal their hearts and turn them into Heartless as well. They can merge with the floor and walls, like a shadow."

"Exactly Ed, so why did they leave a trace while they could just vanish like they normally do."

"Could the explosion scared them away?"

Mushra shook his head.

"I think they were long gone before the explosion began. We found a candle in on of the machines that fried the wires. My guess is that it must have taken about five minutes or so before the fire caused the explosion." Shinichi concluded.

"Which makes me wonder why on earth those Heartless would blow up the factory? What could they gain?"

"Perhaps is just to cause another distraction to take Azmaria?" Mushra guessed.

"Az! We have to get to Halloween Town." Edward suddenly called out worried.

The Enterran shook his head.

"Azmaria is well guarded, don't forget Chrono and Genki are still with her. Besides as long as they don't go outside of that lab she should be safe. Besides who wants to face that creepy professor anyway."

"As far as we figured out there are just three of them." Mushra continued.

"Three of them indeed!" The loud voice of the pumpkinking reached their ears.

"Jack! Back already?" Edward asked surprised.

"I found these in the snow on my way to Halloween Town." He told them while he showed the masks.

"Evidence?"

Jack shook his head.

"These belong to Lock, Shock and Barrel. Three children, who always cause trouble with their pranks. I confronted them with these, but they kept denying that they've been here. They even told me that the masks were buried not long ago."

"They could have lied right?" Mushra asked.

Jack nodded.

"With ease. But both the witch sisters and the major noticed they haven't been wearing their masks since they came to live with them. On top of that, Barrel mentioned seeing a couple of Heartless some nights ago, on the exact place where Shock hid those masks."

"So it was those creatures! So far finding a save place to rest."

"Barrel told me he only saw three of them." Jack said.

"Maybe they took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up here?" Edward guessed.

"We can handle three of them. Let's find them and finish this quickly. After that we can get some rest." Mushra suggested before suppressing a yawn.

The others nodded.

Shinichi turned his gaze towards the blanket with stars high up in the sky. Suddenly he noticed a shadow on the roof of the storage warehouse. Before he could say anything the yellow beady eyes, disappeared as the shadow sank down into the roof.

"There! A Heartless on the roof!" He called out while pointing towards the spot where he saw the creature.

"Where?"

"He just sank down into the building Mushra. I think he should be inside now."

"Well then let's have a look." A amused smile appeared on the face of the Enterran.

With a loud creaking sound, Jack Skellington pushed the heavy door of the warehouse open.  
In the little light that came trough the windows, the group noticed several stacks surrounding them.  
Quickly Mushra pulled out his spear and Edward did the same with the weapon he always made out of his right arm.

"Let's find a light switch first." The skeleton suggested.

"You mean this one?" The small boy asked as he pulled a large lever downwards.

Suddenly all the shadows and darkness in the building disappeared and made place for a suiting yellow light.

"Well at least we can see where we're going. Let's head out and look for that thing, but be careful." Edward warned.

* * *

"Santa?"

Sora quietly walked down the stairs towards the bedrooms. He had noticed that the alchemist was no longer in his bed and that Mushra hadn't come up yet.

"Santa." He called again.

"In the living room Sora." The old man replied.

The Keyblademaster walked towards the room and noticed Santa Claus sitting in a large, velvet red chair, holding a long list in his hands.

"Does something trouble you child?" He suddenly asked.

"Yeah. Ed's out of bed and Mushra hasn't come up yet to rest."

"Hmm. I last saw both of them behind the warehouse where we store the gifts until Christmas. He seemed to look rather….thoughtfully towards the snow and a window there. But no need to worry Sora, those two can manage."

Suddenly Sora remembered why they came to Christmas town in the first place.

"Santa I've got another question. Well more of a problem really. This friend of ours can stop time for a while, but the last time he tried it, it drained all of his energy. Right now we are trying to stop Malificent from taming the star of Abis and…."

"Oh, so the princess is still travelling past the stars?" Santa interrupted.

"Princess?"

"Even though I'm older then I can remember, I do recall this legend about a princess who sacrificed herself to save her world and others."

"How…how does this legend go?"

For a moment all went quiet as the old man thought hard.

"I am sorry." He said after a while.

"It's alright. Is there something you can remember about it?"

"Only that this princess became a star and wandered every few hundred years past all the worlds to bring light and peace. I know there was something more to the legend but I'm afraid my memory isn't as sharp. I can barely remember anything from the time I was your age."

The old man smiled at Sora.

"Don't worry Santa. I'll find out how this legend goes. But do you know how we can help Chrono? The friend I was talking about."

The man dressed in red nodded and walked towards a small bookcase next to the fireplace. He took out the thinnest book on the top shelf and pulled out an old piece of paper.

"This map was once given to me by my father. It has been passed down the long line of the Claus family. With this map I came into the possession of a crystal, which can be used to stop or slow down time if used correctly. Perhaps your friend can gather his energy from that?"

Grateful Sora took the map and looked at it. On top of the map a couple of smudge letters where written. He could barely make out the letters A-T-L-A-N-T before it was no longer readable. On the map was something that looked like an island with a face drawn in the middle. No other landmarks or towns, just something that looked like a face.

"Where is this Island? Do you have any coordinates?"

"No. The last time I visited that island I took enough crystals with me to last at least ten generations to take over my job. You know, when a crystal from Atlantis is used, it will keep working until the user dies."

"So these things are the key to bringing the presents on Christmas eve?"

Santa nodded.

"You go and find your friends Sora. I think they can use some help with their investigation."

The boy nodded and walked out the door, putting away the paper in his pocket.

* * *

"Alright guys be prepared, they could be anywhere around here and show up whenever they want." Mushra warned in a low whisper.

"Shall we slit up?"

"No Conan, that way we could be an easy target. Don't forget that two of us are already at the end of their strength." Jack reminded him.

"There is one!" Mushra suddenly yelled as he raced towards the shadow.

He managed to throw a fireball just in time before the creature could vanish again. The Heartless disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"Two more to go."

"I've found another." Edward called out shortly after the first Heartless was beaten.

He clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground. A sharp pillar appeared from it, hitting the startled creature. As it fell from one of the large boxes filled with toys, Edward sprinted forward and sliced the shadow with his blade before it could hit the ground.  
It also left in a small puff of smoke.

"I think it might be safe to split up now. Just one more Heartless left." Edward suggested.

"No need for that." Jack said as he pointed forward.

Standing under a large window, stood the last small Heartless. Shaking a bit he looked around him, probably looking for the others.

"This one is mine gentlemen. I still have to teach them a lesson for framing those children."

Before the others could protest, the king already ran towards it with large passes. A small bolt of lightning formed between his bony fingers. With a graceful throw he hit the creature right on the chest and the familiar trail of smoke appeared.

"Guys!" A familiar voice suddenly called them.

"Sora! You've missed all the fun!" The alchemist yelled back with a grin on his face as Sora closed the door.

"You guys know who blew up that machine?"

"Heartless. Three of them. We don't know why they did it, but we just beat them so there's not much we can do."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner to help. But Santa gave me this map that'll help Chrono." He explained.

Suddenly a loud roar, from outside the warehouse, made the ground shake underneath their feet.  
Startled by the sudden sound, Sora peeked through a small window inside the large door of the warehouse.  
Before him a large black puddle appeared on the taintless snow. Slowly a creature, just as large as the houses of Christmas Town, arose from it. It's three heads looked around with an raging look. Searching for it's prey, it's long tail violently swishing back and forth.

"You know there is still one outside." The Keyblademaster calmly said.

"But all the clues said it where only three of them." The small detective explained.

"Well if you look at it in a different way, it could be three of them combined."

Tired and beaten Mushra walked towards the door with a sigh.  
Sora was the one who stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

"Listen. If we don't defeat that thing, we can't get out of here. It's outside blocking our way to Halloween Town. We don't have a choice."

"Hey both you and Ed haven't had much rest. Stay here you guys have done enough. Jack you and me are going to kick that monster's tail!"

"Of course Sora, but don't you think it would be easier with a little more help?"

"I'm in!" Both Edward and Shinichi called out.

The two chosen, standing at the door, looked at each other.

"We could distract him and prepare an attack." Sora suggested.

Mushra took a glance at the ferocious monster outside.

"How do you suppose we do that? Those heads don't think as one, they won't be easy to trick."

"We'll run around him in circles." The small boy proposed.

"Circles?"

"We can confuse all of those heads if we run around him."

"Let's try that. On the count of three we'll storm outside. Shinichi you stay here you might get hurt otherwise." Edward explained.

The boy shook his head.

"There has to be a lot of toys or balls laying around here. I could try to kick them to those heads from the second floor. It will buy you guys more time to attack."

"At least watch your back, this thing isn't exactly a miniature size Heartless. We don't want to see you getting hurt when you're like that."

Shinichi nodded, knowing exactly what Mushra meant.

"Alright guys let's do this quick. We'll stick to the plan and attack when we see a change. If we strike fast and hard it'll be enough to bring him down for sure!" Sora said his voice full with energy.

The boys and Jack nodded. As quick as he could, the little detective ran towards the second floor of the building. The sound of his feet against the metal stairs bouncing of the walls.

"On three we go out. 1…2….3…now!"

* * *

With much force both Sora and the Guardian pushed the door open. As quickly as they could they spread around the monster. Both Jack and Sora managed to dodge the strong tail of the beast as they tried to position themselves.

It was the pumkinking who attacked it first with one of his fire magic. Growling madly, the Heartless turned it's heads towards the skeleton. With a fierce swift of it's tail, it almost hit Jack who just managed to avoid the attack.

"Careful Jack, he's faster then he looks!" Sora called out to him a few meters away.

"He's very fast indeed. Focus Sora or else you might end up on the ground!" He called back.

When Shinichi was first given the tour of the town, Santa told him the warehouse had a large hatch on the outside that led to the second floor. He had explained there and then that they used it for large boxed that couldn't fit trough the front door.  
The small detective never knew that it provided a perfect spot for aiming at the large creature.  
From the corner of his eye Sora noticed the small detective appearing on the second floor of the warehouse as two wooden doors where opened.  
The boy waved wildly with his arms, beside him lay several balls of any kind.  
Before Sora could give a signal, he noticed the small boy watching with his mouth open, as Mushra avoided the attack of two long arms, before jumping on them to find his way up to the beast. With a strong kick in it's chest, Mushra managed to bring it out of balance.

Gracefully the Guardian landed back on his feet after that.

Quickly Shinichi raised his hand, signing the others that he was ready. Reaching down towards his shoes, he turned the knob of the gadget the professor made for him a while back. He felt how energy pulses raced trough his body as he stood back up and kick one of the bright coloured balls against a head of the Heartless.  
After the cry of the beast was heard, Shinichi rolled another ball towards him with his foot and waited to see if it was needed to hit it again.  
As he watched the beast tumble down into the snow, Jack and Sora where the first to attack it with their magic attacks.  
Both Mushra and Edward where also ready to defend themselves against the large shadow. With a quick movement, the alchemist launched himself at that best, his blade ready, his gaze determent.  
It wasn't odd that it came to an surprise that the giant monster disappeared before him in a trial of smoke accompanied by a pink heart.

"Is it over?" Mushra asked, wondering why the battle had been so easy.

Sora nodded as he kept looking at the place the monster vanished.

"That…that was to easy. They are much harder to defeat, even the little ones." Jack recalled.

"Is it safe! Can I come down!" Shinichi yelled down.

"Yeah it's safe!" Sora called back to him.

"Are you sure? Even if we saw the heart being released, are you sure that it really was the end of it?" Mushra asked.

"Yeah. As soon as the heart is set free it means the end of that Heartless. Perhaps he just wasn't as strong as we thought." Sora told him with a small grin.

The Guardian shook his head and suppressed a yawn. He felt tired and still concerned about Yakumo and the other angels.

"Let's wake up the others and leave. I've got the map here to where we can help Chrono, Cid will only have to make a navi-gummi of it."

"Sora? Could Edward and I….get some rest on our way back?"

Ed nodded in agreement.

"Sure no problem."

"You guys where awesome! I've never seen such moves!" Shinichi called out as he came running towards them.

"Hey little detective, do you want to come with us? We can give you a ride to Radiant Garden. They'll take care of you there."

The boy shook his head.

"Santa promised me everything will be alright. He offered to take me home when those things are gone. I think he knows something we don't, about all of this I mean."

"If Santa doesn't want to share something with us, then perhaps it's something we need to find out for ourselves." Mushra said to the others.

"Well that old man sure knows more then he's letting on." Edward muttered.

"In any case we have this map that'll help Chrono."

"The faster we can help him, the bigger the change is to beat Malificent and Aion. If he can stop time without hurting Rosette…then…maybe we can save the girls without to much trouble."

"Let's get going. The time is ticking away and we haven't got much of it left until the star reaches our part of the galaxy." Sora said.

"Let me escort you back to Halloween Town." Jack offered.

Both Mushra and Sora looked at the king with a large smile.

"Say Jack aren't you forgetting something?" The Keyblademaster asked.

"Something to do with Sally." Mushra added.

"The ring!"

Both boys couldn't help but laugh.

"I can't believe you forgot why you came here in the first place. You go to Santa, we'll find our way back to Halloween Town." Sora assured him.

With a weak smile the king of Halloween nodded.

"Don't forget to drop by for the big Halloween party. It's going to be horrifyingly better then last year."

"We'll try Jack." Sora smiled.

* * *

All the twelve year old Azmaria could do was gasp for breath as she held onto a metal helmet.

The armour form of Alphonse Elric didn't move and seemed to stare at her without his head.

"Az…" He began.

Tears began to stream down her face as she let go of the helmet.

"I'm…I'm sorry…Al nii-san." She chocked.

"It was an accident." Alphonse reassured her as he picked up his helmet.

Who would have guessed that that one little gizmo of doctor Finkelstein would go haywire and knocked his head right of his shoulders.

"I…I shouldn't have touched it."

"I'm fine Azmaria really."

A moment of silence fell as the young boy reattached the helmet to his body.

"You're not going to ask?" He suddenly asked her.

"About…why you don't….have a head?"

The suit of armour nodded.

"Isn't it rude to ask such things?"

Alphonse chuckled and held out his hand.

"Come let me show you something."

She took his hand as he led her toward a well lit part of the lab. He placed himself in front of a window, with the light of the full moon casting it's glow upon the two.

The younger brother lifted his helmet for a bit.

"Az take a look inside." He said.

With shaking hands she once again hold onto the helmet and lifted it a bit.

"What do you see?" her brother asked.

"Nothing."

"Look a little closer."

She did as she was told until she noticed something in the back of the armour.

"Oh. There is something there."

"That's the blood seal that binds my soul to this armour."

"Then…where is your real body?"

"Somewhere where we can't get it back so easily."

"What happened nii-san?" Az asked in a whisper.

"Nii-san and myself made a mistake once…he saved me from dying by binding my soul like this. Before the Heartless came to our world, we where searching for a way to restore our bodies like they used to be."

"I'm sure you'll get your body back someday." The apostle said before giving Alphonse a light hug.

"I'm sorry I scarred you like that."

"You're not scary Alphonse." She whispered.

"I'm not?"

"An angry sister Kate, now that's scary." She giggled.

"I'll bet she can't top teacher." Al replied, amusement in his voice.

The girl smiled as she leaned forward and gently gave him a peck on his metal cheek.

"Thank you for telling me this Al nii-san." She whispered.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner Az."

She shook her head as the sound of the heavy metal door opening rang in their ears.

"Aru we're back!" Edward called out. 

* * *

**That's it for now. The longest chapter I've ever written!  
Next time the gang goes back to Radiant Garden to get the coördinates to Atlantis. **


	20. The next step

**Disclaimer: I don't own, Shinzo, Kingdom Hearts, Disney related stuff, Final fantasy related characters, Monster rancher, FMA, chrono crusade and anything else I might have missed.  
And sorry for any grammar errors.******

The brotherhood of heroes.

**The next step.**

"Leon! Leon! Where are you Leon!" Yuffie called trough the large library.

"Over here Yuffie. What can be so important that you have to shout like that?" Leon asked with a calm voice as he approached her.

"Good news. Kairi and Riku made it here from Destiny Islands and want to help us with finding Malificent."

"That is good news, we could use their help. Don't forget that we also have to protect Kairi. Sora thinks she's one of the angels."

"Perhaps…."

"You don't think she is Yuffie?"

"I have this feeling…that Sora is just meant to bring the chosen together like the prophecy said. I mean he is already chosen by the Keyblade so how big are the odds that he's chosen for this?"

A moment of silence fell.

"Perhaps you're right….but right now he is our only change, he knows more about the Heartless then the chosen and he knew how to find them. The only thing for them to do is to stop the star of save the angels."

The ninja girl sighed.

"The problem is that we don't know where the angels are and they don't either. I'll bet my munnny they're exactly where Malificent is but the scans showed up nothing. It's really frustrating Cid."

"Why are you still here anyway? We searched every book here looking for information about he prophecy and the angels. We even searched for dragons and the star. We can't get any more then what we found out of those dusty old books Leon!" She continued with a small pout on her lips.

"That is true….but I'm looking for a connection between all of them. I want to know why and how she could use the angels, the star and even the dragons….we have to find out if the chosen still have some time left." Leon answered.

With another sigh she placed herself on the floor of the library.

"I…I feel so useless right now. We should be fighting Heartless with them not doing research." She complained.

"It's all we can do Yuffie. We are not in the heat of the battle unlike last year. All we can do is keep Radiant Garden save and help Sora any way we can."

"Keeping it save! Humpf!"

"You don't agree?"

"Have you seen any Heartless lately Leon? Ever since that dragon attacked us those little things haven't been seen since. From what would you like to protect the city?"

A small smile appeared on the face of the young man.

"If you're that bored then why don't you contact Sora and tell him Kairi and Riku are here."

The girl raised a brow before leaving the library.

"Atlantis…hmmm. Could the map mean the lost city?" Genki wondered out loud.

"Lost city?" Sora asked while he tried to steer the ship around small space rocks.

"Yeah, on my world there is this legend about a lost civilization that got swallowed by the sea one day. It's just a legend though, no proof has been found so far."

"Swallowed by the sea you say? Maybe Santa meant to sent us to Atlantica?" Sora wondered.

"Atlantica?"

"It's a world where mermaids and mermen live under water. I've been there several times but have never seen a crystal of any kind down there."

"So what's the plan now?" Genki asked him.

The Keyblademaster pressed the auto-pilot button and turned his chair around to face the boy. He closed his eyes, remembering how tired his body felt.

"We have to go back to Radiant Garden. Maybe Cid and Tron will know where this Atlantis is so we can get that crystal. When that's done we'll go after Malificent."

"SORA!" A loud shriek filled the cockpit.

Startled, Genki looked at the image that appeared before him. A young girl giggled as she watched the Keyblademaster giving her an angry stare.

"What is it Yuffie? Some people need their rest here."

"There is no time to rest. You have to come here quickly, Kairi and Riku have arrived!"

"That is good news Yuf, but we're already on our way to Radiant Garden. We need new coordinates to help Chrono."

"It's complicated." Genki quickly added when he noticed the girl's questioned face.

"Alright then you can tell us all about it when you get here!"

The girl gave the two boys a quick wink before disappearing from the screen.

* * *

"It really is quiet here." A girl whispered.

She brushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear as she looked at her surroundings.

"Too quiet perhaps. Why would Sora need our help if the Heartless are nowhere in sight." A tall young boy with silver coloured hair asked as he pushed against the wooden door of Merlin's home.

"Are you coming Kairi?" He asked the girl.

"I'll wait outside for a little longer Riku. I'm sure Sora will be here any minute."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Then I'll wait here with you, you'll never know when those things will attack."

"Hey don't think I can't defend myself because I can fight you know!"

A sheepish smile appeared on the boy's face.

"I know."

Irritated the girl pressed her fists against her sides before giving Riku an angry look.

"Kairi! Riku!"

Hearing the familiar voice calling out their names made the two teenagers turn their heads. As quickly as she could the redhead launched herself into Sora's open arms.

"Kairi please let him breath." Riku chuckled.

"So Sora. We where both wondering why we're here?" Kairi asked him.

"I'll tell you guys everything inside Merlin's house."

The Keyblademaster was about to step in when Genki grabbed his arm to stop him.

"She is not an angel." He whispered.

"What?" Sora asked surprised.

"She is not one of the angels. For some reason I know who they are and she's not one of them. It probably has something to do with being chosen and all that."

"Then who is the other angel? Yakumo, Holly, Rosette and Azmaria are angels and three of them are already captured. Aion announced that he is going after Az. How can't Kairi be one of the angels when she's connected to me."

"She just isn't Sora."

The young boy turned his gaze towards the other chosen who where taking care of the just awoken devil.

"Then what shall I do. I'm not sure they'll like coming all this way for nothing."

"They are your friends, they'll understand. Perhaps they could help us in a different way."

"Riku might know where Malificent is hiding. He was once her pawn not to long ago." Sora whispered.

Genki nodded.

"Listen, why don't you and the others go to Ansem's lab. Mushra knows the way. Ask Cid if he and Tron know where Atlantis is. Take this map I got from Santa it should help them."

"Sora are you coming inside or what!" His best friends called out to him as he leaned on the doorpost.

The brunette nodded and walked towards him.

"What's going on? We haven't seen you since Donald and Goofy took you away for a secret mission."

"I'll tell you everything but it's a long story."

"Are you alright Chrono?"

The devil nodded.

"Are you sure? I could carry you some more on your back if you want."

"Thank you Alphonse but I feel a lot better. Which mean Rosette is still alive if I can still feed on her lifespan."

"There has to be a way for you two to break the contract when Aion is defeated." Azmaria said.

The devil smiled back at her.

"Guys, while Sora is filling in his friends, we could find out where Atlantis is." Genki told the group as he approached them.

"Where should we star?"

"Well Al, according to Sora some guy named…Tron can help us. Mushra do you know where he is?"

The guardian nodded and gestured everyone to follow him. He hadn't even set two steps before he was startled by the sudden appearance of the young ninja girl that had jumped from the rooftops and landed right in front of him.

"I heard everything! You guys want to go to a new world and we already looked for the coordinates in the library but it came out blank as usual."

"Sora gave me this map that should help Cid find those coordinates." Genki told her with a grin.

"Yuffie could you do me a favour?" The older alchemist suddenly asked.

She nodded.

"Could you look after Az for us. Just for a couple of hours so that we are sure she'll be save."

"Sure thing! Come along Az-chan I'll show you our library. The most boring structure in all of Radiant Garden!" She said with a smile.

A little frightened she looked back at her new found brothers.

"Don't worry Azmaria, we'll come back to pick you up. You'll be save with Yuffie."

"But Aion…" She started.

"Most of us are still looking for this world called Atlantis in the library. Don't worry I'm sure we can beat this Aion if we work together."

Still doubting a bit, the apostle was guided trough the city by the dark haired girl.

"Wait hold on. So in short those dreams you've been having lately where the whole reason that you went out to find these chosen ones to destroy a star that Malificent is looking for so she can tame it?" Riku asked without taking time to breath.

A wide grin appeared on Sora's face.

"Yeah that's about it. But Malficent also needs the angels to tame the star of Abis. I assumed you where one of them Kairi, but Genki told me otherwise."

"Is that why you asked us to come?" She asked him.

"I wanted to protect you Kai, but that wouldn't even be needed in the end."

"How does this Genki know she's not one of the angels? I mean she's already a princess of Heart, so why couldn't she be…"

"Have the Heartless returned to Destiny Islands?" Sora asked interrupting his friend.

"No, they haven't been seen since we came back."

"Then that witch hasn't been looking for you Kairi. Besides I trust the chosen, they are friends."

"I assume you want our help with tracking down that old hag right?"

A smile appeared on the face of the Keybarer after hearing Riku's question.

"I would appreciate that Riku. We are having so much trouble finding her. I don't know if you can think of any place where she is hiding?"

"I…I think I know a place. It's not easy to find but what I do know is that Heartless are crawling around there."

"It can't be that hard to miss for Tron's scanners. We'll just…."

"It's not as easy as you think Sora. She can hide her presence with one of her spells. I'm sure that's what she's doing right now." Riku interrupted him.

"Sora, we'll try our best to help you." The girl told him with a smile.

* * *

With a soft thud, Mushra and Chrono let themselves fall on the floor of the hi-tech lab. Cid was racing over the keyboard, trying to enter the right coordinates to their next destination. The old map was folded open right beside him.

"You know I'm getting really tired of this." The guardian sighed.

"Tired of what?"

The Enterran looked at Chrono with tired eyes.

"Travelling across the universe. From one world to the next and still we are nowhere close to the angels."

"Don't give up Mushra. I'm sure it won't take much longer until we found the girls." The devil sighed as well.

Edward crouched down before the two warriors.

"What ever is going to happen if we keep Az save until the comet has past then Malificent can't do much with her plan can she."

"But then they will have no use for her. The changes of them…"

"Stop. I don't want to think about such things. We have to save them, we just have to."

"Then destroying the star before that won't help much either huh?"

"Not really nii-san…unless we already know where the girls are being held." Alphonse noted as he listened in on the conversation.

"Gentlemen if ya need me I'll be at yer ship installin' tha gummi. I would very much appreciate it if ya' all wouldn't touch anything."

The boys nodded before Cid left the room.

"Can't we ask Tron how much time we have left until the star is gone?" Genki suddenly asked looking at the computer screen.

"Cid told us not to touch anything." Chrono whispered.

"I don't know about you guys but I don't care much for rules." Edward said as he walked towards the monitor with a big grin on his face.

"Nii-san, please don't it, you'll break something."

"Al is right Ed. You don't even know how that thing works." The devil chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. But we could try to ask Tron right?"

Before anyone could stop him, the older Elric had already pressed one of the buttons.

"Greetings user." An unknown voice came from the large device.

A blue face soon appeared on the screen before them.

"You must be Tron." Genki guessed.

"You are correct. I am Tron a program made by Ansem the Wise. With what can I help you users?"

"We want to know how much time we have left until the star of Abis finishes her round." The alchemist said.

"One moment…"

An eerie silence fell.

"It will take the comet exactly two days and forty minutes to complete it's round."

"Just two days!" The suit of armour called out in worry.

"Shit!" Edward cursed.

With a serious look on his face the guardian stood up.

"We can't lose any more time with fighting those Heartless. We'll do what we need to when we get to Atlantis. Get a crystal and get out and just pray someone will know where that witch is hiding by then."

"Mushra…what if we don't find out in time?" Chrono asked with a heavy heart.

"The total amount of worlds the star has to pass is five." Tron let the group know.

"You can't tell us where Malificent is hiding either I suppose." Edward asked the computer.

"My scanner has preformed a total of fifteen-thousand scans in the last twenty-four hours and not one detected a abnormal peak of dark energy. In the mean time worlds are disappearing because of the Heartless."

"Tron how big is the change that we can get everyone out of this alive?" The devil suddenly asked.

He was gazing at the ground and hadn't moved an inch from where he was sitting.

"What are you trying to say Chrono? That we're not strong enough to defeat that witch?" The older alchemist asked with anger in his voice.

"No." Was the reply.

"I can't calculate such things." Tron admitted after that.

"I see."

"Chrono there is something bothering you isn't there? You can tell us we're your friends and we'll listen."

Carefully Mushra placed a hand on the shoulder of the purple haired devil.

"Rosette and I promised each other that if she dies I will go with her. If she isn't coming out of this alive then I won't either because I made that promise and I'm not planning to live without her. But if my death would mean that she can live…I won't hesitate and I'll do my best to make sure Aion and Malificent don't succeed. Even if it means I won't survive."

"You're forgetting one thing Chrono. You're not alone. We'll help you defeat Aion and…"

"No!" the devil interrupted.

"No Ed. Aion is my problem, my sin…my brother."

"Then we can't promise that we won't help you. We'll give everything we got because well…we're friends aren't we?" Genki asked him.

"Just leave Aion to me, If I fail you guys can finish the job and Rosette…she'll be free from our contract." Chrono sighed.

"Don't you think she rather die with you then see you die for her?"

The devil raised his shoulders after hearing Alphonse's question.

"My soul will be more at peace knowing she will live on."

"Guys!" Sora's voice suddenly filled the large room.

"How did it go? Do your friends know where Malificent is?" The suit or armour asked when the brunette walked towards the group.

Sora shook his head.

"No, but Riku has a plan and he'll contact us when he does find out where that witch is hiding right now. I've also talked to Leon and we agreed that it would be best if we left Azmaria here so she can be protected."

"What! Do I have to remind you the last time we tried to protect an angel!" Mushra yelled, stunned after hearing the sudden idea of his friend.

"It's different this time. They are prepared and my friends, Donald, Goofy and even King Mikey himself are on their way here to help."

The chosen ones looked at each other with a sceptical look.

"Don't underestimate Aion and those new Heartless that are almost too fast too hit." The devil warned.

Both Mushra and Edward nodded in agreement.

"I have faith in them and as long as they can protect Az, we'll give it our best to kick Malificent's butt!"

"If you have faith in them so will I…but something is telling me that we shouldn't leave her behind like this."

The youngest of the two alchemists nodded, showing he agreed with his brother.

"It could be those big-brother instincts of yours. You two practically adopted her as a little sister." Sora laughed.

"We promised to protect her and I want to keep that promise."

"Nii-san is right. We always try to keep our promises and Az is counting on us."

"I'm sure she'll understand Al. If she goes with us we'll lead her straight into the lion's den, making her an easy target. If she stays here at least there will be a whole group that can protect her." Mushra assured the brothers.

"Alright then. When do we leave for Atlantis?"

"Whenever you guys are ready…or in two hours whichever comes first."

"There is not much time to waste since the comet will only have forty-eight hours left until it completes her round." Genki mumbled.

"Just two more days?" Sora whispered.

"We'll be ready in an hour." The Enterran assured him.

"Then let's use that hour to eat and rest up a bit. Cid gave our warp-drive an extra boost so it will take no more then a few minutes to get too Atlantis."

* * *

"They're not coming." Rosette sighed from her corner.

From a small hole in the wall, she could see the moon shine her light inside the dark cell. She remembered that it once had been a lot brighter.

"They'll come. Have patience." Yakumo whispered.

"I just hope Genki is alright. Knowing him he probably cooked up some crazy plan to get out." A voice from a cell next to the other two angels said.

"Hey Holly, how long do you think we've been here?" The nun suddenly asked.

"I don't know. It's always dark out but three or four days perhaps?"

"How long we've been stuck down here doesn't matter. All that matters is how long we have to live."

"What do you mean Yakumo?"

"Haven't you noticed that Malificent acts rather annoyed since yesterday? That's probably because she hasn't found the other angels yet to perform the ritual."

"And if she doesn't find them then we'll…" Rosette started.

"We'll be expendable." Holly whispered.

And short moment of silence fell which was interrupted by the blondes sudden giggle.

"I can still not believe we tricked that stupid cat into telling her plans."

"Maybe we can trick him into helping us?" Holly suggested.

"I don't think that will work. She was probably planning to crush our hope of rescue when he told us her plans." The human girl from Enterra whispered.

"I don't want to die. I have to tell Chrono so many things. I have to tell him why he has to live on when the contract ends."

"Are you planning to tell him you love him?"

"That and…he might become a father soon."

A smile appeared on Yakumo's face and even if she couldn't see Holly, she was sure the girl was smiling as well.

"But how? You're a nun right? Don't they have to stay pure?" The monster trainer wondered.

"I only joined the order to save my little brother from Aion. I never planned on keeping those vows I made."

"So that makes you and Chrono forbidden lovers?"

"Something like that." Rosette muttered.

"How romantic." The young girl in the cell next to them sighed.

"So are you sure you are pregnant?"

"No… I'm just suspecting that. Because we…you know…just once…and I feel different."

Yakumo couldn't see it in the weak light of the moon, but she was sure the young nun was blushing as she pulled up her knees.

"Tell him the moment you see him again. Even if they are in battle, it could give him strength to fight on if he knows there are two people he's fighting for."

Rosette smiled and sighed deeply.

She was relieved she could tell the news to someone she learned to trust in a short amount of time, but the other part of her was very much afraid that the little devil wasn't going to make it.

* * *

From the bright colored ship, Sora noticed something that made his breath stop for a moment.

An Island surrounded by giant, stone statues and a clear blue light that seem to hover above some ruins.

The light was covered by stone masks and the sparkling water that streamed trough the city fell from the edge of the strange island in a never ending stream.

"Wow." Genki whispered who resumed his place next to Sora.

"It's gorgeous. I wonder if there are still people living down there. It seems deserted."

The Keyblademaster looked once more at the stone constructions they flew over. Genki was right it looked like nothing was moving down there.

"Sora are you sure these are the right coordinates?"

A soft, sheepish laugh was heard.

"I hope so or we're screwed. We need Chrono on full strength to help us save the girls. I'll land on that plateau over there." He answered.

"You know…the others are beginning to lose their will to fight." Genki suddenly confessed, his head turned to the floor of the ship.

"What?"

"Chrono isn't planning to get out of this alive and I think Mushra is worried we're not going to make it in time. He know the angels will be…"

"We'll make it. It's a feeling but I'm sure we're going to make it."

A serious look graced Sora's face.

"We're going to make it out alive, every last one of us. Maybe not without a scratch but alive." The brunette continued.

A smile appeared on Genki's face. One the keybarer hadn't seen in a long time.

"I'm glad you're saying that. I had this feeling you would lead us in this."

With a harsh thump the spaceship landed on the platform on the edge of the city.

"I am no leader and the only reason I'm doing this because it's my duty as the Keybarer to defeat the Heartless."

"And it has become our duty since we found out we where chosen. But believe me Sora you are leader material. I think it would be best if you give the guys a small pep talk before we move on."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to do it." Sora mumbled.

"Yeah that too." Genki laughed and walked out of the cockpit to tell the other they had landed.

* * *

"Malificent. Our troops report the girl is in Radiant Garden. She's protected by those annoyin' kids." The large black cat announced before kneeling in front of the witch.

"And the chosen?" she asked.

"They left that world but we couldn't follow them trough the warp portal they opened."

"Don't worry my love." The soothing voice of Aion assured her.

"Don't worry? Do you have a plan to lure them here? I'm sure you wish to toy with them a little more Aion, but we wasted enough time and there is just one angel left after the girl has been brought here."

"Let them enjoy their time of peace, when they come here we'll unleash a storm upon them. When I have brought the girl from Radiant Garden here, I'll leave a couple of clues to our…hiding place. They will be sure to follow."

"If ya want them here Malificent why don't ya just undo the spell. Those boys will pick us up on their radar in no time." Pete suggested.

"That…is not a bad idea. When the apostle girl is captured we will start preparing the ritual immediately. When the chosen have arrived they are all yours Aion."

A wicked smile appeared on the face of the silver haired devil.

"Then it's time to play."

"Should I round up tha troops tha attack Radiant Garden?" The cat asked.

"No, Malificent let me get the girl."

"Good luck with that! She'll be guarded by some of tha best fighters I have ever seen. And ya've got that lieutenant and colonel from Ametris as well."

"Do you think you can handle it Aion?" The witch asked him.

He nodded while the smirk never left his face.

"Lend me a pair of your strongest Heartless and I'll return within a few hours."

She nodded before turning towards Pete.

"Prepare the elite troops."

* * *

**In the next chapter our heroes travel to Atlantis, will they get the crystal they need and will Leon's gang be abel to protect Azmaria when Aion comes for her?**


	21. The nightmares

**Aye this be another long chapter. But the most fun one to write since it's nearing the end of the story.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing I say!  
Sorry again for grammar errors. English isn't my first language.**

The brotherhood of heroes.

**The nightmares.**

According to Tron, Abis was the name of the world Malificent was hiding. The sky was dark, the earth dry and cracked. The trees seemed to have lost their rich green colour for at least several years.  
Determent but also unsure on how to sneak into the 'lion's den', the group of chosen walked into a small abandoned village. A large castle was the only thing that stuck out above the ruins of the village. Thousands of tiny, yellow eyes surrounded the building as their bodies merged with the darkness.

"This place is giving me the creeps." Alphonse whispered.

Both Genki and Mushra nodded in agreement.

"Wait a minute." The devil started.

The boys turned their attention to the devil who pointed at a small cabin where a dim light was shining trough the broken windows.

"Do you think someone is really living there?"

"You wanna take a look? Maybe he knows if Malificent really is hiding out here."

"Come on Genki! The castle is surrounded with those damn Heartelss. If that doesn't shout out 'evil person living here' then colonel Mustang isn't a smug bastard." Edward laughed.

"Let's take a look anyway…someone might be able to help us out." Chrono suggested.

When they arrived at the old cabin, Sora carefully knocked on the fragile looking wooden door. With a loud squeak it opened and the first thing they noticed was a table covered with lit candles. The wax gently dripped down on the stone floor which was covered with a light blanket of moss. Even though the small building looked neglected, the warm glow of the candles was a welcome change.

"Who dares to visit me on this hour?" A tired old voice asked with a slight grunt.

A bit startled Chrono took a step back, but he was the first who dared to enter the cabin. Looking around he noticed an old man sitting on a stack of hay which he probably used as a make-shift bed.  
His eyes looked clear but tired, his white hair was thin but long and his pointy ears where clearly visible.

"My name is Chrono. These are my friends. Sora, Genki, Mushra, Edward and Alphonse. We…we are looking for a way into the castle."

"Where the witch lives? Why would you want to go to a hellish place like that?"

The others slowly entered the cabin as well.

"We have to stop her sir. She is planning to tame the power of the star of Abis and use it to take over the universe." Sora explained to the old man.

The old man chuckled.

"Does something amuse you?" The devil asked.

"You must be the chosen. Do you even know how the star of Abis has been created?"

"Not entirely." Mushra confessed.

"Sit down and I'll tell you the true story of the star before you risk your lives inside her lair."

"Actually we don't have much time…"

"It will only take a couple of minutes." The old man assured them.

Confused the chosen did as they where asked and placed themselves on the stone floor.

"Long ago, humans, devils and angels inhabited this world. The angels and devils fought a war with each other deciding who could walk on the land of the humans. The devils won in the end and this world entered a time of peace."

"Devils." The two brothers whispered at the same time while the others looked at Chrono.

"I told you it sounded familiar. But I always thought it was just a legend among our kind."

"Your kind…you are a devil aren't you? Hehe, it's been a while since I've seen one of our own." The old man said with a small grin on his face.

"Please continue, we don't have much time left."

"One day a devil, a thief, found himself in the garden of the palace and fell in love with the human princess there. As a proof of his love for her, he promised to bring her a rare golden rose which he found after searching many worlds."

Mushra softly sighed as he remembered how much he struggled to get Yakumo her favourite flower when she was nearing death.

"When he returned, the city was no longer the same and Heartless roamed the streets. Four chosen and their wives where called out to the castle to solve the situation. They asked the help of the young devil to eliminate the creatures but…"

The old man stopped for a second.

"But to do that he would lose the one he loved. Of course he wouldn't want that, so he sought help with the angels of light. The wives of the chosen. It seemed they didn't agree with the method their husbands would use to drive away the darkness. The princess would be used as an sacrifice and be turned into a beacon of light. The young devil was given something to save his loved one…but something went wrong."

"What?"

"During the ritual to make the star, the boy chanted a powerful spell to save her. But darkness crept in her pure heart and that was what made the star able to be tamed."

"The chosen, it was the first brotherhood right?" Mushra asked.

"Yes. A Celestial Guardian, a healer, a devil, a Keyblademaster and a alchemist where the once who made the star."

"Can we destroy it?"

The old man nodded.

"Before you continue you have to know that the wall on the south side of the castle isn't guarded because of the river running past there. It might be the only way to enter without being seen."

"Thank you for your story and your help." Sora thanked with a slight bow and walked outside.

The others followed his example and followed the Keyblademaster.

Chrono was the only one who stayed behind.

"You are that devil aren't you? The one who helped make the star. The one who got our kind banished to another world?" He whispered.

The older devil nodded.

"Do you…do you regret what you did?"

"Every second of every day. But I would have lost her if I wasn't afraid to risk my live to save her."

"The spell…you mean it could have killed you?"

Again he nodded.

"Do you have someone in there who you care deeply about?"

"Yes…she is my contractor. We are connected with each other, body and soul. I love her so much."

"Then don't be afraid to die so she can live. Don't make the same mistake I did."

"Thank you for your wise words old king of Pandemonium."

The man laughed.

"So that is what the young ones are calling me these days. Go and be strong my son."

* * *

Rapidly the little girl pounded her fists onto the invisible barrier which held her captive. Around her feet small circles where drawn with some kind of red ink. The apostle suspected it was some kind of blood seeing as it looked darker then any other red ink she had ever seen.  
Even the walls of the room she was in where smeared with the same blood or ink.  
The fat cat who put her in the room, quickly left before she even had a change to ask what was going on.  
Suddenly she heard the familiar voice of Aion and a soft whisper.

"They will try to get into the castle." The devil said.

"Let them come. I'll grant them nightmares beyond everything they can imagine. Pull back the Heartless Aion, our game can begin."

"No…Ed…Al…Chrono…everyone be careful." The little girl whispered as she folded her hands in front of her and started to pray.

* * *

With a heavy thud it was the suit of armour that landed in the castle garden. All that was left of it where the remains of dead trees and bushes accompanied by a dried out well. Thanks to him and his older brother they where able to make a small bridge to go across the river and climb over the remains of the castle wall.  
Everything remained quit, there weren't any birds that sang their song or any heartless in sight. Even still the heroes remained vigilant.

"I know it's a cliché but it's quit…too quit." Mushra started.

"Don't let anything distract you. We'll go in, get the girls, beat the crud out of that witch and high tail it out of here." Edward mumbled.

The large wooden door moaned as Sora pushed it open. As the group walked into the castle, Sora couldn't help but stare at the high ceiling above them. He wondered how big the building really was.  
The chosen kept walking until they found themselves standing in a big round hall, the cracked marble floor reflecting the little light some of the lit torches gave off. Three separate hallways seemed to lead further into the building.

"I'm afraid we'll have to split up." The blue eyed boy sighed.

"Let's go in pairs so we won't be alone." Genki suggested.

"Alright. Ed, Al you take the right hallway. Genki and Chrono take the left one me and Mushra will take care of the other. If we haven't found anything in an hour we'll rendezvous back here. Everyone be careful and on your guard."

"You've got it Sora!" Genki called out.

"No problem together Al and I are unbeatable." The alchemist assured him.

Edward clapped his hand together and hovered it over his left hand. Between the sparks of the transmutation, Mushra noticed how a blade appeared from his sleeve, tearing up his white glove and showing the metal fingers in the dim light.  
Mushra pulled out his spear as well, deciding it was for the best if they where armed and ready just in case.

"Be careful everyone." Chrono whispered before he and Genki ran towards the left hallway.

* * *

"I feel so…unarmed." Genki complained as he and the devil walked trough the dark hallway.

There where no doors on both sides as far as they could see. Only dark smudges graced the old stone walls.

"Look a suit of armour and he's holding a sword!" The devil suddenly noticed as he pointed at the suit standing a few meters ahead of them.

"Dibs on the sword!" Genki laughed as he raced towards it.

Before he grabbed the weapon the boy stopped and kept looking at the armour.

"Something the matter?"

"I've seen enough horror movies to know that in a situation like this, that suit could jump right at me."

Chrono chuckled.

"It's not Alphonse besides the only dark energy I'm feeling right now is outside of the building."

"If you say so Chrono."

With a fast pull the skinny boy managed to get the sword from the suits clutches.

"The next one if yours alright Chrono. Chrono?"

The devil suddenly seemed fascinated by the wall beside him.

"What's wrong?"

"I smell…blood I think."

With two fingers he traced the smudged pattern on the stone. It was dried up but the devil could still smell the strong metal scent coming from it.

"Blood? Why would she need blood to tame the star?"

"It's not human blood…this smells different…Cynder and Spyro have the same scent."

"You mean that it's dragon's blood?"

The devil nodded.

* * *

With a small flame he managed to summon, Mushra made sure they had a light to guide them trough the dark hallway.

"I'm not fond of those marks on the wall." He noticed.

"It looks like they run trough the whole castle. I noticed them in the hallway that goes to the garden too." Sora told him.

"Where do you think this door lead to?" Mushra suddenly asked as he stopped at the first door he came across.

"Let's take a look, we might find one of the angels."

To their surprise the boys found the door already slightly ajar. Behind it a large room filled with books and old scrolls littered most of the room and you could hardly see the wooden desk under the books and paperwork covering it. A small telescope was placed in front of a window and pointed to the sky. A small open chest rested on a tiny table, showing it's treasure to the boys.

"Someone wanted us to find this room."

"Why do you say that Mushra?"

"The chest is open, but the jewels in it are still there and the door wasn't locked."

"Hey come take a look at this!" Sora called out as he looked over a couple of papers on the desk.

In his hand he held up a piece of parchment.

"Looks familiar doesn't it." He said while showing the drawing on the parchment to the guardian.

"The markings on the walls."

As Sora kept looking trough the papers, Mushra turned his attention to the small chest.  
It was filled with several jewellery which seemed awfully familiar to him. Carefully he pulled out a watch resting on a broken chain.

"Sora. Didn't Rosette wear a clock around her neck?"

"Yeah, Chrono grabbed it when Aion took her. Then at some point he lost it. Why?"

"It's right here…with the ring I gave Yakumo, a necklace with a cross and one with a green pendant."

"That's Holly's, then the other one must be Az's." The brunette noticed.

At the bottom of the chest, Mushra found a photograph of two little boys and a woman. Both boys had blond hair and golden eyes like Edward.

"Could this be Ed?" He asked his friend as he showed him the picture.

"Looks like it. Then the other could be Alphonse before…you know."

"Before they tried to resurrect their mother." Mushra whispered.

A moment of silence fell as the two kept searching the room.

"I know why Cynder and Spyro where taken." Sora mumbled.

The Enterran grabbed the treasures from the small chest, determined to give them back to their owners.

"Why?"

"Their blood was needed for this."

The Keyblademaster held up a small map of the castle. In five rooms a tiny red circle was drawn, a thick red line going trough the hallways linking the circles. A small note on top of the map let them know the markings on the wall where indeed made from blood.

"I'll bet the angels are in those rooms."

Mushra nodded as he handed over the trinkets to Sora, who put them away in one of his pockets.

"Only one way too find out."

* * *

"They where right it's way too quit."

"That and those signs on the walls are worrying me. They don't seem to be alchemy related, but there must be a reason why they run trough the entire castle."

"They could be worrying you because they seem to be written in blood nii-san."

"Do you see a door anywhere Aru?"

"It's way too dark. But I do see a little light up ahead. It looks like it could be coming from behind a door."

The older brother quickened his pace.

"We might find Az there. Let's be quick and on our guard."

Suddenly Edward stopped in his tracks and a clear blue glow surrounded him. Startled by what happened, Alphonse also stopped in his tracks and noticed his brother stepped on a small circle with the same symbols as on the walls. When the glow disappeared as quickly as it appeared, Edward collapsed onto the floor.

"Nii-san!" Al called out as he rushed towards his brother.

He didn't even take a step when Aion suddenly appeared before him.

"You can't save him."

The suit of armour took a fighting stance.

"I can try."

The devil laughed.

"You're the last one. Do you really think I would let you go."

Edward never heard the sound of metal on stone or the cries of help from his younger brother.  
All the older alchemist saw was the familiar grassland that made up his home town of Resembool. His mother was smiling at him as she put her clean laundry up to dry. His little brother was helping her with a big grin on his face.  
He had grown and was no longer the small boy he remembered him to be.

"Edward." His mother called out with a suiting voice when she noticed him.

The alchemist felt tears stinging in his eyes.

"Nii-san!" Alphonse called out.

Trisha Elric slowly walked towards her eldest son and put her hands onto his shoulders the moment she could. He kept looking at her and his eyes spread out in horror as he noticed her changing into the monster that was once gasping on the cellar floor so many years ago.

"_Why…why did you make me like this…why didn't you let me die."_

"Mom…I…we…"

"Nii-san, why did you let live like this? I can't eat, I can't feel, I can't breath, I can't sleep. I'm not sure if I'm even alive. I hate you nii-san! I am like this because of you!"

The form his little brother once had was gone and replaced with the familiar suit of armour that trapped his soul. Rust covered the steel plates and Ed could almost feel the pain his brother was feeling.

"Aru…I…I'm so sorry…so sorry! I never meant for you to be like that. We…chose the same path Aru, we just wanted to see mom smile again…it went wrong…we are both to blame."

"_See…me…smile?" _

The creature that was once his mother asked.

Edward nodded, tears stinging his eyes.

"Mom I…we love you so much. That's why we tried…but we couldn't pay the price to bring you back."

"But you made me like this nii-san! You made me into this monster, a wandering soul!"

"You are a human Aru. You are Alphonse Elric, my little brother and you'll always be that."

"Nii-san."

The harshness in his voice was gone and the world he was in disappeared in a blur.

"Aru!" Ed called out before he woke up.

His eyes where wet and his heart was ready to jump from his chest. The monster used to be his mother, but it felt so real. When he looked around Ed noticed he was still in the castle and he noticed the absence of his little brother.

"Aru? No..no…crap why did you go and disappear at a moment like this."

As he made his way to walk back to the hall, the alchemist noticed scratches, cracks and a newly transmuted pillar in the hallway.

"A struggle? You where taken little brother…hang on Aru I'll get you back."

Ed turned to look at the door where the dim light was coming from when he opened it he was surprised to see Rosette standing there surrounded by a circle that gave of a faint glow.

* * *

Mushra looked left and right for the third time before leaving the room.

"The coast is clear. Why do you think the Heartless keep away from us?"

"We're being set up." Sora sighed.

"I noticed that much. But you would think they could put in a little more effort to stop us."

"What ever the case let's head to the music room. It's further down the hall and according to the map there should be one of the angels in there."

"Let's hurry."

The two sprinted ahead as fast as their feet could carry them. Without warning, Mushra suddenly felt his eyes close and his body tumble down on the floor. When the Keyblademaster noticed he ran back, trying to shake his friend awake.

It was dark, not as dark as in the visions that he had before he started this adventure, but dark enough not to see the way in front of him.

"Mushra." A soft familiar voice called out.

"Yakumo?"

In a distance he noticed a faint, white glow blinking in the dark. Without giving it any second thought he ran towards it. His pace slowed down however the moment he came closer and his body came to a full stop when he noticed what was lying before him.

Tears streamed down his face.

"Yakumo." He whispered sadly.

Surrounded by darkness the life-less body of his loved one lay there. A large puddle of blood beneath her, her blue eyes no longer clear. Her soul, clad in white, hovered above her body.

"You where to late." She told him.

"No! There is still time."

"There was time Mushra. You promised…you promised to save and protect me."

"No…no I can't let this happen again!"

"The Guardians won't resurrect me again. This…is our goodbye."

"No." He repeated in a shaking voice.

Trough his tears he looked at the soul hovering above the dead body. Something in his heart told him it wasn't right. It was the same feeling he had when the Cadrian troll pretended to be her.

"Yakumo…when you came back to us…to me…you warned us in advance. Do you remember how?" He asked.

The soul blinked.

"You don't remember? The Guardians told you in a vision."

Mushra grinned, his tears stopped. His feeling was right and he now knew it wasn't the body or soul of his beloved before him.

"You are not Yakumo. Yakumo send us all a postcard announcing her arrival. You are not my Yakumo!"

"Mushra!"

Startled the Enterran opened his eyes and noticed Sora hovering over him with a worried look on his face and his hands on his shoulders.

"Thank goodness your save. I thought I'd lost you for a minute there."

"What…happened?"

"You tell me. The only thing I know is that you suddenly got knocked out."

"A nightmare…but it seemed so real…her voice…her scent…the smell of blood."

"It's gotta be a trick of Malificent."

Mushra nodded and picked himself up from the floor.

"We have to move on the others are counting on our help. Can you walk?"

The guardian nodded as both boys continued their way.

* * *

With shaking hands the small devil managed to keep himself up against the stone walls of the castle.  
Just a few seconds before he witnessed how Genki lost consciousness and fell on the floor and he knew he was about to have the same faith. As the spell of the witch finally won, Aion watched from a corner how the two fell into slumber, waiting for the first chosen to wake up.

* * *

"Hang on Rosette I'll get you out."

Once again Edward clapped his hands together and placed them on the floor. The small stone spikes where enough to interrupt the circle and stop the faint glow.  
When the nun noticed that, she carefully stretched her hand in front of her and sighed when she no longer felt the invisible wall.

"It's about time!" She suddenly said as she stepped towards the exit.

"Excuse me!"

"You guys could have been a little quicker. Just a few more minutes and we would be sacrificed in her crazy ritual."

"Hey I can't help it you where taken away by that devil. That you're not strong enough to handle him is not my problem." Edward called back.

"Do you even know how strong Aion is?"

"Yeah I'm still feeling it. But I wasn't the one who was carrying the gun was I."

"Humpf. Like some Gospel's are going to stop him." She huffed.

"And I'm not going to let him stop me. I have to protect someone so you've got two choices. Either you're going with me or find your own way out."

A small grin appeared on his face.

"Would you really leave an unarmed girl all alone here."

"Unarmed my foot. Chrono told me you can bring down buildings without lifting a finger."

"Yeah well he's not here to protect me small fry, so I'll guess you've got to do it since it's your job as a chosen and all that."

"I'M NOT A MICRO MIDGET!" Edward yelled after Rosette as she walked out into the hallway.

* * *

The first thing Chrono saw was the grinning face of his brother. Next to him stood the woman he loved so much in the past. Mary of Magdalene.  
With a sad look she looked down at him, in her hands she carried the flowers he had buried her with. A small breeze suddenly tickled his cheek and before he could turn to see where it had come from, Rosette walked past him.  
She took hold of the hand Aion offered and turned, with the same sad look on her face as Mary, towards her devil friend.

"I can't do it anymore Chrono. I'm dying and Aion…he promised to let Joshua go if I became his bride. He can save me…he can save my little brother." She told him.

"You don't trust him do you? He is the one who gave Joshua my horns in the first place, that was why you made that contract with me. It's all his fault Rosette! Don't trust him!"

"But…if you hadn't betrayed Aion…then he would never have taken your horns." Mary added with a soft voice.

Chrono's eyes widened as he knew what she said was true. But at that time he didn't know what his brother was planning.

"I was willing to risk that. He would have killed you Mary and I wouldn't allow that. Rosette I love you so much…I showed you…that night in San Francisco. Don't you remember?"

"I never loved you Chrono."

"That's a lie! If you didn't love me you wouldn't have allowed what happened that night!"

Aion laughed after hearing that.

"Perhaps it's time to wake up little brother." He chuckled.

Breathing suddenly seemed to be a lot harder and his heart raced in his chest. Slowly he opened his eyes and he stared at the face of his older brother who had his hands clutched around his throat.

"It's a shame that it has to end like this brother. But it's not too late, you could save yourself if you join me."

"N-never!"

"Then prepare to die!"

He tried to scream but there was no sound, he was about to accept his fate when the force on his neck disappeared and the smell of burned flesh filled his nose. His body welcomed the oxygen he breathed in.  
Panting he looked up to see the hand of his brother smouldering, the pendant around his neck glowed as he felt it's warmth go trough his chest.  
As quickly as he could he picked up the sword Genki dropped and launched himself at Aion who managed to dodge him.  
Chrono then knew it was now or never. The final battle between him and his brother was about to begin.

* * *

"Look Mushra that has to be the music room on the map." Sora said while nodding towards the nearest door.

"Let's hope one of the girls is there and not an army of those things."

"Hmm. You would expect them to be waiting behind every door."

"Is she doing this to taunt us? Does she want to kill us herself?"

With a heavy push he opened the door.

"Why knows what's she's planning." He answered.

In the room behind the door, musical instruments where neatly placed against the wall. Lit candles graced the shelves and lit up the room along with Azmaria who was standing in the middle of it all, looking relieved when she noticed the heroes.

"A circle?" The Keyblademaster noticed as he looked where the girl was standing in.

"Must be one of those magic things. I don't think Az can walk out of it or she might have already."

Carefully Mushra reached out for the girl but had to retreat his hand as he felt a light shock go trough his body.

"Au! Something is definitely keeping her inside."

"Let's attack the wall together, maybe we can break it."

The guardian nodded and walked backwards a bit. Sora did the same, getting ready to run at the barrier.

"One…two.."

"Three!"

With a fast sprint the two boys launched themselves against the wall. When their weapons came in contact with the barrier, the force of the impact threw them right back on the floor.

With a moan the Keyblademaster got back up.

"Again!" He called out.

"Wait I've got an idea."

The guardian took out one of his golden feathers he got from his grandfather.

"Gramps told me this can break trough the darkness. Maybe it'll work on dark magic as well."

"How many feathers will you have left?"

"One. We better save that to beat Malificent or destroy the star."

"Save it for the star. I've beaten that witch before she's not that big of a challenge."

With a graceful throw Mushra hit the barrier. Like he expected the circle around Az's feet disappeared.

"Az is everything alright?" Sora asked worried.

The girl nodded.

"You'd better stay with us when we go look for the others." Mushra suggested.

"Is…are my brothers here?"

"Ed and Al. Sure, they are in another part of the building though."

"Genki and Chrono are around here somewhere looking for the others as well. I'm sure that they'll be alright if the halls are all the same."

* * *

"Holly! You're save!" Genki called out in relief when he noticed the girl standing on a lone hilltop.

She turned around, her hands clutched at the pendant around her neck.

"Genki, what are you doing here?"

"I…I'm coming to save you. Sora was right about everything he…"

The girl shook her head.

"He wasn't right…look the monster world is save of those creatures."

He pulled up a brow as he walked up the hill next to the girl. When he looked down at the valley before him he noticed his friends, the monster who helped him, fighting with the goons of the evil Moo.

"Moo is still going at it." Genki sighed.

"Go home Genki. We don't need you anymore. My champions down there are winning."

"But…"

"We never needed you."

"Then you didn't need me either when I saved your live." He growled.

"You didn't save me…you where…too late." She said with a dark voice.

The girl next to him fell onto the grass. Startled Genki tried to shake her awake but the moment he touched her, she turned into dust and was blown away by the wind.

"Genki."

The heavy voice calling his name made him turn his gaze upwards. Towering over him was the large form of Moo looking down at him.

"Prepare to die boy."

With bucking knees he brought up his fist.

"I'm not afraid of you." He said softly.

Moo laughed.

"You're not afraid of me? Then I'll give you something to be afraid of."

Again the large monster laughed and with tears in his eyes, accompanied by an angry look on his face he thought back to the moment where he met the girl he cared for and the start of his journey.

"I'm not afraid of you Moo! I'm not afraid of you, Aion or anyone else!" He shouted.

After those words his surroundings seemed to fade and Chrono's voice reached his ears.

"Genki." He softly called out.

With a jolt his body put itself into a sitting position, sweat rolling from his face he looked at the friend who had called him. His eyes spread in horror as he looked at what he saw.  
Against the wall of the long corridor the little devil was slumped. The sword Genki held onto just a moment before lay loosely in his hand. Blood covered his face and the white colour of his shirt was no longer there.  
With a painful look on his face the devil held onto his side.

"Chrono! What happened?"

Within a few passes the champion reached his body as he searched for any wounds.

"I'll…I'll heal Genki."

The boy shook his head and hovered his hands over the wound on the devil's side. A pink glow appeared and Chrono felt his body heal again and the pain disappear.

"Who did this? Aion?"

"Yeah…but…I did it…he's gone." Chrono whispered.

The gaze of the purple haired boy shifted to his left. Genki followed his gaze and gasped at what he saw lying in the hallway.

"How?" the boy asked as he tried not to gag at the gruesome sight.

"The crystal…I didn't have the guts to transform completely…but I could stop the time and surprise Aion…Kida was right."

Both boys smiled.

"You did it though. You beat him and I'm sure Rosette is proud of you but you didn't came out of it unharmed. Maybe we should…"

"I'm alright…just need a minute to rest up some more…"

"You sound like an old man." Genki grinned.

"Older then you think…go find the angels Genki. Take the sword and leave me here to regain my strength. I'll catch up don't worry."

Inside a voice was telling him not to leave his friend and travel companion behind. His common sense screamed not to leave but his legs did otherwise and he moved slowly away from the devil who closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.  
Not trying to look at the decapitated body of the older devil he made his way trough the castle. Still his eyes couldn't help but wander at the lone head that still had a gruesome look on his face.

The nauseating feeling returned but he decided to keep walking until the hallway came to an end and he found himself staring at a familiar looking door.  
When he opened it he was surprised to see that a well lit stairway leading down and still the familiar feeling didn't fade.  
He knew why when he reached the bottom of the stairs and the heavy smell of iron hit his nose as well as the sight of several cells.  
Genki tightened his grip on the sword as he made his way trough the dungeons where he had been held for several days. As the smell of blood kept getting stronger, the boy remembered that Spyro and Cynder weren't the only dragons that where being held captive there.

* * *

Edward had always joked how he and his brother where cursed. Now he wasn't so sure if it was a joke. Rosette was walking next to him, hitting back every comment he made with ease, which didn't do his current mood justice. On top of that his little brother was still missing.

"Are you sure you haven't seen Aru?"

"I've told you 'Edie' I haven't seen anyone wearing a suit of armour. The only thing I did hear was Aion laughing and saying he had the last one."

"The last one….the angels!" the alchemist said with a startle.

"What?"

"Alphonse is one of the angels. Argh why didn't I see it sooner!"

Enraged he pounded his metal fist on the wall. A small crack appeared in the old rock.

"W-we'll find him and that witch doesn't have any use for him anyway when I'm not inside that room." Rosette assured him.

Edward sighed deeply and walked further down the hall until he reached a door. Both humans pushed it open to find a familiar looking hall.

"Shit. We've been walking in a circle." The older brother cursed.

"Now what?"

"The way I see it 'Rosie' there are two options again. You go with me to find Aru or you'll stay here waiting for the others."

"So you'll leave me out in the open for that witch to find me?"

"I take it that means you'll be following me then."

"You two aren't going anywhere!" An angry woman's voice shouted at the two.

In a flash of green fire, the black cloaked witch appeared before the two.

"Malificent I presume."

"Indeed alchemist. Prepare for the last moments of your live." She hissed.

"Hold on Yakumo it's almost broken."

With one last blow of the metal weapon, Genki managed to break the lock of the tiny cell.

"Thank you Genki! Have you seen the other girls by any change?" She asked worried about her new friends.

The boy shook his head.

"Did something happen too them?"

"She trapped us in the dungeon but Pete recently took us out one by one. I'm not sure where they are and I'm beginning to get worried."

"Don't worry, Mushra and the others are looking for them. I'm glad to finally meet you, he talks a lot about you." Genki smiled.

A faint blush appeared on her face.

"Is it true that you can heal wounds?" He suddenly asked.

She nodded.

"I had to leave a friend up stairs. He…he took care of Aion but he's lost a lot of blood. Could you help me heal him?"

"Sure. Just take me to him."

Quickly he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stairs. Genki knew he had to hurry.

**One more chapter and a epilogue to go! I'll upload the next chapter in a few days.**


	22. The last battle

**All that's left is the epilogue guys and this thing will be finished. I sure won't try to fit that many characters in a story ever again. O_o**

**Disclaimer: Don't own: Shinzo, FMA, Monster rancher, Chrono crusade, kingdom hearts, Final fantasy related things, Disney related things and everything else I've used.**

The brotherhood of heroes

**The last battle.**

"End of the road guys. What's next." Sora moaned as he stared at a large wall.

Mushra once again looked at the small map they found before saving Azmaria.

"There has to be another angel further down the hall. We found Az in a room with a small circle and according to the map there is still one of those right ahead."

"Could there be…a secret passageway around here?" the little girl asked.

"Could be…"

"Hey Sora don't you think that stone in the wall is a whole lot more different then the others?"

Carefully the Keyblademaster stroked the surface of the stone Mushra meant.

"It feels a lot smoother then the others."

Suddenly a short flash of light appeared and the oddly colored rock made place for a small keyhole.

"For the love of Zoni, don't tell me we have to go look for a key as well." Mushra grunted.

"Ahum." Sora started as he swung his Keyblade from his shoulder.

With a gentle tap on the keyhole, the wall started to move to make place for a hidden door.

"Be ready to attack. Who knows what is hiding behind there." Sora warned.

Mushra nodded clutching his spear tighter.

"Stay here Az." He whispered at the girl.

She nodded as she placed herself as closely next to the door as she could.

* * *

"What is your plan witch?" The nun asked with a sharp tone.

"You already know dear. Tame the dark power of the star and take over the universe. If your blood flows with the others I will succeed."

"You're crazy old woman."

"Not as crazy as bringing back someone from the dead. You brother paid a heavy price alchemist."

"It was both our choice so don't try those mind games of yours because they're not going to work."

She laughed.

"We shall see. My nightmare spells didn't seem strong enough, but are you sure that your little brother doesn't hate you for what you did to him?"

"Shut up!" he ordered.

"I can get him back to normal…give him a new body…if you trade that for her."

Edward turned to the frightened face of the girl behind him.

"I am very tempted to do such a thing, but Chrono would kill me when he finds out and since we're both sinners in our own way it is best to keep him a friend."

"Do you think that weak devil will beat Aion? He can't even use his powers without draining his legion. Do you think he would really waste the live of his contractor?"

"Enough chit-chat! Let's see if your magic can beat alchemy."

"With pleasure!"

Malificent held up her hands and a wall of green fire appeared around her.

"Rosette go and find the others. I need their help."

"I'll hurry back." She whispered before running into one of the hallways.

"It's just you and me old woman!"

* * *

"Holly!" Sora called out when he noticed the girl standing in the middle of the room behind the hidden door.

She could only stand still and tremble as a group of small Heartless danced around her. Waiting until Pete finished drawing the circle beneath her feet.  
Hearing the familiar voice of the hero, the large cat turned around but didn't get the chance to do anything as both Mushra and Sora sped forward.  
The Keyblademaster knocked the cat towards a corner of the room as the guardian took care of the smaller shadows.

"Sora?" Holly now dared to whisper.

"Holly I am a friend of Genki and Sora. You're save now, just go outside and you'll find Azmaria. Please wait with her for us."

She nodded as she sprinted out of the room.

"Time to talk Pete." Sora demanded as he pointed his weapon at the foe.

"I…I know nuthin'."

"Liar. You know what she's planning." Mushra hissed as he pointed his spear at him.

"She…she wants tha gather everyone in tha hall….tha sacrifice…and work 'er hocus pocus. Please let me live." He begged.

"You're in luck Pete. I feel generous today so get lost."

The cat didn't need the Keyblademaster to tell him that twice. As quickly as he short legs could carry him he ran from the room.

"Are you sure he's not going to warn Malificent?"

"It won't matter now. She has where she wants us to be anyway. Because to leave the castle, either trough the front door or back trough the garden, we have to go trough the main hall. She'll be waiting for us."

"Is everything alright?" A soft voice asked as Azmaria walked into the room.

"Just fine. But we have to leave you two behind."

"What! Why?" Holly asked.

"Pete just told us she needs to sacrifice us to be able to tame the star. If you stay away from the main hallway, her spell won't work." Mushra explained.

"What about you two? You'll get hurt won't you?"

Sora turned his gaze towards the old floor.

"Probably. But at least you two will be save and we stopped Malificent. Wait for us in this room and try to get out of the castle if we're not back to get you in two hours alright."

Both girls nodded.

"Stay safe." Az whispered.

* * *

"How is he doing?" The once energetic boy asked.

"His breathing is shallow…and he has broken a few bones as far as I can see."

"I'll bet Aion wasn't very brotherly, but decapitating him might be a little over the top."

"He did…the same…to our mother…" Chrono whispered.

"It doesn't matter anymore Chrono. He's gone."

The devil smiled.

"Without him…Joshua will be…useless to the others."

"Joshua? Rosette's little brother right?" Yakumo asked as she took the hand of the wounded boy and tried to channel her energy to him.

The devil nodded and moaned.

"I feel…a great dark force…coming from the….way we came in here." He suddenly said.

"It might be that witch."

"I'm positive it is." Genki sighed.

With a worried look the human boy gazed upon his wounded friend before turning to look at the dark hallway.

"Yakumo, try to heal him the best you can…I'll go and help the others…I'm sure they won't be able to fight her alone."

The girl nodded.

"Be carefull…I'll help you as soon as I can." Chrono mumbled before drifting asleep.

"Go. I'll take care of him." The angel assured the hero.

* * *

"Ed!" Both the Guardian and the Keyblademaster shouted as they arrived back at the rendezvous point. Malificent was able to wrap her long fingers around the neck of the alchemist, her nails drawing a little bit of blood from it.

The marble floor was no longer in once piece as sharp pillars graced the once smooth surface. Mushra was sure it was Edward's work.

"So they have come to save the little alchemist. I admit you where fast and strong, but not strong enough to defeat my magic." She chuckled.

"We'll see Malificent! Time stop!" Sora called out as he pointed his keyblade at the woman.

The hold around his neck weakened and he felt someone grab him roughly at his shoulders to pull him away from her grasp.  
Surprised Edward looked up at the witch who seemed to look like a statue before looking at the face of the guardian who pulled him away.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"Get ready guys! The spell won't last that long."

Not even a moment after Sora said that, the witch started to move again and growled in anger at the three boys.  
Before she was given a chance to cast another spell, Mushra threw a small fireball at her and opened his assault on the woman.  
With an easy jump in the air, he hoped to drive his spear trough her heart and make an end to their adventure.  
His weapon never made contact as she sent a lightningbolt his way.

Mushra grunted as he felt how his body hit the floor and a sharp pain hit his chest. It reminded him of the time he was shot during his first case as an detective. The same pain pierced his body as he tried to get up from the floor.

In a distance he heard the faint sound of someone clapping and he felt the marble stone vibrate a bit under him.  
Four tall walls appeared around Malificent, trapping her inside.  
Her evil laugh echoed within the newly made walls as the boys watched it turning into sand.

* * *

He was alone in the large room Aion put him in. An unknown circle drawn around his feet and he was sure it was what kept him from leaving.  
The only sound he could hear was that of chalk scraping on stone as he finished the transmutation circle.

"Hold on nii-san. I'm on my way."

The suit of armor sighed deeply before placing his hands on the new circle. The blue glow of the circle around his disappeared to make place for the familiar light of the transmutation. As small cracks appeared in the old stones of the floor, Alphonse took the piece of chalk in his hand and threw it in the direction of the only door in the room. Like he hoped, it didn't bounce of any invisible wall like what happened to him just moments before.  
Slowly he made his way out of the room only to stop when he entered the dark hallway once again.  
He looked around, not knowing where to go.

"Where did he take me?"

Suddenly he felt something bump into him followed by a few muttered curses.

"Nii-san?" He asked.

"No, my name is Rosette." An irritated female voice told him.

"I'm sorry. It's so dark in these hallways it's hard to see anything and the only one I know who can curse like that is my older brother. Are you alright?"

"Yeah just peachy. You don't happen to be Alphonse right?"

"I am."

"You're brother is looking for you. He freed me from one of those magic cages that old witch made." She explained.

"Wait now I remember! You're that girl Aion took, the one who has a contract with Chrono."

"That's right. You don't happen to know where that little devil is do you?"

Al shook his head even though he wasn't sure she could see in the darkness, the silence that followed knew she understood.

"What shall we do?" she carefully asked.

"We have to find the other angels. Who knows if they are already been rescued by the others but we have to help them stay save. If they are…I'm going to find my brother and help him defeat that witch."

"I can fight! Please let me help!" She begged.

"Are you sure? It can be dangerous."

"I'm a good shot. Give me a gun and some ammo and I'm ready to send that witch to kingdom come. Please let me help out."

Again Al sighed.

"Alright then. I'm sure I'm going to regret this. Help me find some light and I'll give you a weapon."

* * *

Malificent screamed out in pain as she clutched her left side. A green liquid dripped down from her fingers. The same color liquid tainted the, already smeared with Aion's blood, sword Genki was holding.

The boy had took one long sprint when he noticed the witch and managed to hit her.

"Genki! Great to see you're still in the game."

"Aion! Aion!" She called out desperate.

"He's gone." Genki told her with a frown on his face.

"What!"

"Chrono beat him. He killed him with this sword." He told her as the boys began to circle around their enemy.

"You will pay! You will all pay!"

A wave of green, hot flames appeared the moment the witch stretched out her arms. All the heroes could do was move away from the inferno.

* * *

"How does it feel?" Yakumo asked with a soft voice.

With unsteady movements, the devil managed to stand up straight.

"Better." He confessed.

"That crystal is helping isn't it?"

He nodded.

"I'm not sure if I should fully transform seeing as Rosette and I still have a contract. Her live could be taken away much faster."

"What if Malificent gets to her before your contract ends?" The girl asked back.

A moment of silence fell as the devil stared at the floor with a sad face.

"You keep forgetting that she made that choice. She knew the risks."

"She was still a child at the moment."

"And she is a young woman now…one who could be carrying your child."

"What?"

"She suspects that she's pregnant and I know she wanted to tell you herself. But now you possibly have two lives you have to protect. Aren't you willing to risk it all just to keep them save?"

"Thank you Yakumo." He whispered as a small smile appeared on his lips.

He took a few steps forward before looking back at the human girl.

"You better find a save place to hide."

She shook her head.

"I'll go with you. I can fight."

"Mushra would kill me if I let you."

She smiled, knowing her loved one probably would.

"I'll be waiting here."

As Chrono kept walking trough the hallway, he felt the energy of the crystal flowing trough his body and his pace became quicker accompanied by a low growl escaping from his throat.

* * *

With a sickening crack, the alchemist landed back on the ground. Every inch of his body seemed to hurt and he didn't care much for trying to get back up again. The flames she summoned didn't seem to be dying and he swore he could see tears streaming down from the woman's face.

"Why is she crying?" Edward wondered.

Just then it hit him. Hearing about Aion's death made her weep, the witch had feelings for the devil.

"Ed!"

Genki joined his side trying to help the boy get back up on his feet. He tried to stand, but his automail and other parts of his body where disagreeing with him.

"It's no use Genki. I think I broke a few ribs."

"Euhm…your leg isn't looking any better." The boy noticed as he pointed at the left leg of the boy which stood in a strange angle.

"Shit. Winry is going to kill me when she finds out I broke it again."

"Listen, I'll pull you to the side line. Can you try that trick of yours to at least distract her."

"I can try." The older brother moaned.

Before Malificent managed to attack again, the sound of gunfire echoed trough the hall. She took a few steps back to see the armed angel aiming the weapon at her.

"Surrender or the next one will be dead on target." The blonde girl warned.

"Rosette! No go find the others!" Edward called out.

"Listen short stuff, I'm not afraid of that old hag I….Aaah!"

The suit of armor was just in time to pull the nun to the ground as the witch had aimed her fire at her. When Rosette looked up, she noticed the witch standing over her and noticed the weight of the armor disappearing.

"Stay out of this." She hissed as the made an faint gesture with her hand and broadened the distance between her and Alphonse.

With a rough pull she pulled up the young girl by her hair.

"That's it. I've had it." Mushra growled.

"What are you planning?"

"I'll transform Sora then she'll be…"

"No! Do you even know what a Heavens gate attack could do here?" the boy warned him.

Mushra turned his attention at the cracked ceiling and the worn our walls. Sora was right, the building looked so old that every Celestial attack could make it come crumble down on them and the angels.

"The feather then." He suggested.

Sora doubted for a minute but nodded as Mushra pulled out the golden item.  
With a swift move the Enterran threw it in the direction of the witch making her let go of Rosette when it impacted with her hand.

"Who! Who threw this!" she hissed as she pulled the feather out.

"I love those things. Mushra go for it the feather made an opening." Genki noticed as he tried to support the alchemist.

"Who dares to touch my contractor!" A familiar voice growled.

Everyone turned to see Chrono standing in the entrance of one of the hallways. His clothes where tainted with blood, his long fangs where visible and his eyes stood sharp and seemed to be out for revenge.

"Chrono!"

Before Malificent could answer, a black mist surrounded the devil as he let out an inhuman growl. His long braid disappeared and made place for a long tail of bones that seemed to connect to his neck. Large wings sprouted from the small body as his eyes glowed an eerie red. With a fast movement he jolted towards the witch and deepened the wound Genki made before he kept slashing away at her with his claws.  
He let out another inhuman growl as Malificent fell to her knees and didn't seem to be moving.

"He stopped time again. Sora let's move!" Mushra suggested.

The Keyblademaster nodded as both warriors launched their weapons at her.

It was all it took to make the witch disappear with a trail of smoke.  
Slowly Chrono relaxed his body and the black mist around him disappeared, turning his body back to normal.

"Is she really gone?" he suddenly asked the boys.

"Who knows. But with that many wounds I'm not surprised if she didn't come back." Sora told him.

"She loved him." Ed suddenly said.

"Who?"

"Malificent loved Aion…she cried when you told her the news Genki."

"I don't think she would have been more gentle if we didn't tell her."

"Perhaps."

"Let's find the others and get out of here. This place is still giving me the creeps." Alphonse said as he picked up his brother from the floor.

"What about the star?" Rosette suddenly asked as Chrono helped her up.

Everyone looked at Mushra who had been most familiar with the star during their journey.

"It probably passed already…and it will take many more years until it comes by again. Who knows if someone wants to tame her power again but we missed our chance to destroy it."

"Could it really be true what the old devil king told us? That the star is actually a princess who sacrificed herself to save her kingdom?" Chrono asked.

"Who knows. All we can do is wait how things progress. We did our job as chosen ones and the angels are safe. Our journey ends here."

"You're right Ed. How about we go home."

"That sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time." The guardian agreed.

"Then those who can still walk can go and find the girls." The alchemist grinned.

* * *

"So…is there something you want to tell me Rosette?" Chrono suddenly asked as he and Rosette walked down the dark hallway again to get Yakumo.

"Like what?" She asked back.

"Yakumo told me…that you might have a little devil in the oven."

"She did, did she now."

"Don't get angry at her Rosette. It helped me get over my fear to use the crystal." The devil assured her as he could almost feel the angry stare of his contractor.

"That could be the case. But sister Kate is going to kill me if she finds out."

"Let's make sure we find Joshua before she does."

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright Edo nii-san?"

"I'm fine Azmaria really."

"If you say so. It sure is a surprise to find out you where the last angel Aru nii-san." Azmaria said with a smile on her face.

"It sure was. I have to admit that I didn't think I was one though."

"They're gone." Sora suddenly whispered as he looked out the nearest window.

"The heartless?" Genki asked as he looked up from healing the wounds of Edward.

"Yeah." The Keyblademaster sighed.

"Then it's save to go out trough the front door this time. The only question is how do we get back home."

"That's right! Our world was destroyed by the Heartless." Holly remembered.

"It's supposed to be back now. The same thing happened to my world not too long ago but I did seal Kingdom Hearts before it came back…so…"

"You're not sure we can go back do you?" Edward asked sadly.

"I can ask the guys if they have seen any trace of your homes. It might take some time before they come back…I'm not sure."

"Have patience I'm sure they'll be restored in no time." The soft voice of Yakumo assured them as she walked into the great hall, followed by Chrono and Rosette.

"Yakumo." Mushra sighed as he ran towards her and pulled her into an embrace.

* * *

As the stars once again raced past them, Mushra couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he didn't go with Sora, if he didn't agreed to save the universe but stay on Enterra. Would he have been able to protect his home?

"You seem worried." Chrono suddenly noticed as he stood next to Mushra.

"I do?"

Chrono nodded as he stood next to his friend.

"You're thinking about something right?"

"I was thinking what would happen if we didn't agree to help Sora in the first place. Cynder and Spyro wouldn't be saved…your world wouldn't be saved…a lot more people would be gone."

"You linger in the past. We did agree to help him because it was the right thing to do and we needed to protect our loved ones and everything worked out in the end." The devil whispered.

A moment of silence fell as the two kept looking at the racing stripes going past them.

"There is…a big chance we won't meet again is there?"

"Yeah." Mushra muttered.

Suddenly Chrono held out his hand to the guardian with a sad smile on his face.  
Confused the guardian looked at the offered hand then back at the devil.

"We probably won't meet again…but we'll stay friends in our hearts."

Genki chuckled as he joined the two at the window.

"That sounded so cheesy!" Edward laughed from where he was sitting. His automail leg straightened by two large sticks and some bandages. Still he was unable to walk on it.

"But true." The Enterran smiled as he shook the hand of the devil.

"You know when you guys find a way to travel to our world, come look us up." Alphonse chirped as he let Azmaria sit on his lap.

"Same here." She cheerfully said.

"Then let's make a promise. If faith will allow it, let's meet again." Mushra said with a smile.

* * *

**Sorry for any grammar errors in the whole story you guys. Like you probably already know, English isn't my first language. The epilogue will be uploaded sometime next week.  
-mogwai1988-**


	23. Epilogue

**The final chapter of The brotherhood of heroes! Thank you everyone for reviewing after during the years this was in progress and also a huge thanks for anyone who is stuck with the story until the end.  
If anyone wants I can do a couple of extra one shot chapters on what happens when Sora tries to bring everyone back to their own world. If not I'll leave it at this and finish another short drabble of mine.**

**Disclaimer: Alright lets see if I remember what I put troughout the whole story so far. I don't own: Kingdom Hearts, Anything final fantasy or disney related, shinzo, monster rancher, fma, chrono crusade, spyro the dragon and...and...The nightmare before Christmas...I think that's the whole lot.  
And sorry again for any grammar errors guys this was really rushed and changed at the last minute.**

**Thanks again for reviewing and reading!  
**

**The brotherhood of heroes**

**Epilogue.**

As the full moon shone its light in the small bedroom he shared with her, Mushra couldn't help but look at the beauty that lingered in the sky. Small puffs of dark clouds reflected the silver light making the night sky look like a painting that always seemed to change.  
Carefully he made his way out of the comfortable bed and gave her a soft peck on her cheek.  
Mushra sighed as he made his way towards the living room and snapped on a small lamp standing on an evenly small table.

A smile spread across his face when he noticed a familiar picture resting in its frame. He picked it up as the memories came back to him.

"I can't believe it's been almost a year now. It feels like it never happened."

"I'm just glad they all could return to their home." A soft voice whispered to him.

Mushra turned around to find Yakumo standing behind him.

"Did I wake you?"

She nodded and he muttered a quick sorry.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked.

Now it was his turn to nod.

"I'm sure Ed and Al are going to miss Azmaria very much. They've been almost like family to each other."

He picked up the picture as he looked at the two brothers hugging the little girl as tightly as they could.

"I wonder if Rosette managed to break the contract with Chrono?" the human girl said as she looked over Mushra's shoulder at the photograph. Both the blonde nun and the devil touched cheek to cheek as the devil had one arm wrapped around her waist and the other around Genki's neck.

"I'm sure they did. They're both strong." She assured him.

"He did seem a little upset when she told him she wasn't really knocked up though. I can't forget that face he made." Mushra laughed.

A moment of silence fell as the two kept looking at the picture.

"I wonder if those two are still on their quest?" Yakumo wondered as she pointed at Genki and Holly.

"Who knows. But Genki has grown a lot stronger at least that's what Sora told me. He'll be alright."

"You miss them don't you?"

She wrapped her arms around him and let her chin rest on his shoulder as he nodded again.

"It…was fun. Even though we were fighting for our lives and trying to save the universe."

Yakumo giggled.

"Nothing can take your fighting spirit away can it Mushra."

"It's just strange that I can just look at the stars at night and still wonder how they're doing and what other worlds still are out there."

"We've seen too many world for our own good already Mushra." She giggled.

"Yeah. Even the trip back home didn't go without interruptions."

"We should go to Radiant Garden sometimes." She suddenly said.

"How?"

She took the picture from his hands and placed it back on the cabinet where it always stood. Next to the photograph rested a small chest. She opened it and pulled out the Celestial card Mushra hadn't used since their journey ended.

"Do you think it will work?" he asked.

"Do you want to try? I love to see Leon and the others again. I didn't get to thank them for trying to protect me."

The young man chuckled.

"We'll try…in the morning."

"Promise?"

"You'll have my word as a Guardian."

* * *

Sora sighed as he let his leg dangle from the paopu tree. His arms folded behind his head, his gaze towards the starry sky.

"What are you thinking about?" Kairi giggled as he heard her approach the tree.

"I wonder what happened to Mushra and the others. It has been about a year now."

"You can always visit them you know."

"I could…"

"We should! Take me with you!"

The Keyblademaster laughed.

"In the morning perhaps." He yawned.

"Oh you lazy bum. You'll forget it when morning comes." She giggled.

He smiled as a comforting silence overcame them.

"The king asked me to visit him. He…had some things to discuss." Sora suddenly started.

"Oh."

"You're leaving again?" The heavy voice of Riku asked his friend.

"Yeah."

"Want us to come with you?" the girl asked him.

"I don't know…"

"We're going with you Sora if you like it or not. Because we stick together as a team…as friends."

"I'm glad Riku…Kairi…thanks." He muttered before he closed his eyes.

* * *

Genki sighed for the tenth time today as he looked outside his window. Rain tickled down the cool glass as he wondered if the sun would ever shine looked at the cracked disk in his hand. The disk that brought him to the monster world in the first place, the disk that granted him adventure beyond everything he could dream of.  
It used to be his second home and he wanted to go back so badly after Moo was defeated and he found himself again in his world. No matter how hard he tried or how many times he pressed the buttons of his game console. He couldn't go back and as a result his way to the monster world cracked.

"Holly." He whispered as he looked at his own reflection her pendant resting around his neck.

"If I could just see you one more time."

As he grasped the pendant with one hand and closed his eyes, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to his friends in that other world.  
Before he knew it a familiar pull jolted his body from it's place. His stomach turned and he let out a heavy moan as he hit the ground.  
When he dared to open his eyes again, he was greeted by one large eye staring down at him.

"He's back! Guys Genki's back!"

"Suezo?" Genki whispered.

"Ya got it kid." The one eyed, yellow monster grinned.

"I'm back." The boy muttered with a large smile on his face.

* * *

Azmaria Hendric gently placed a large bouquet of white roses onto the grave of Rosette Christopher and lit a thick candle on the unnamed grave next to it.  
The songstress of Vegas had grown into a lovely young woman and even at the age of sixteen she could not leave the order of Magdalene or forget the child like state Joshua was in.  
A tear ran down her face as she remembered the sinners using her powers and that of the other apostles to resurrect Aion and even trying to bring a new world unto theirs. She couldn't forget the sacrifice Satella made to get trough to her sister and the moment her dearest friends vanished for six more months before they found them.

"May the lord grand you peace dear Rosette and…Chrono." She whispered before starting a prayer.

"Az?"

"Is it really you?"

Two voices suddenly asked interrupting her.  
She turned around to see two blond haired young men with golden eyes looking at her with a smile. One of the men whore a long brown coat and was carrying a large suitcase while his hair was tied up in a ponytail.

The other was wearing a dark green vest over a crisp white shirt. His hair was messy and he was a good few inches taller then the other.

"Remember us?" The shorter of the two said with a slight foreign accent.

"Edo nii-san!" She yelled out as she hugged the one with the ponytail.

He returned her embrace when the other started to speak.

"I know I look different now but…"

"Aru nii-san!" She interrupted him as she let go of Edward and hugged her other brother.

"I told you she would know." The eldest grinned.

"How…how did you get here?"

"Long story involving alchemy and the gate."

"Huh?" She looked at the eldest with a confused look on her face.

"Never mind nii-san, we'll explain later. Sister Kate told us Rosette and Chrono where here so…we wanted to say hello."

With a sad look on her face she turned back to the tombstones.

"I…I see." Edward whispered.

"Sister Kate didn't want Chrono to be buried next to a nun…but I insisted and even Father Remington thought it was for the best since he helped out the order so much and not a soul saw him as a devil. He couldn't have his name on the tombstone though."

"Why not?" Alphonse wanted to know.

"This is supposed to be sacred ground where the dead can rest."

"It's unfair to have human sinners rest on sacred ground and be remembered but a real sinner can't be remembered by name. Al do you still have that letter opener?"

"Sure."

Alphonse pulled out the small knife from his pocket and gave it to his older brother.  
As Edward removed the glove of his left hand, Azmaria could only stare at the two alchemists. With the sharp tip of the blade, he made a wound large enough to draw a bit of blood.  
When he returned the letter opener to his brother she watched as he placed his hands together like she had seen him do before.

"Do you know what to put on there nii-san?"

"Yeah."

Edward Elric placed his hands on the blank tomb stone and the familiar blue light emerged. When it faded she couldn't help but cry as she buried her face in the chest of the younger brother.

"T-thank you." She sobbed.

"It's the least we could do…for a good friend."

"Now Az, dry your tears and we'll tell you how we got stuck in your world."

As the three walked away from the graves an old woman shuffled past them, like she had done so many times before since the death of her husband. She always had stopped at the unmarked grave wondering who could have been buried there.  
She was surprised to see an inscription carved into the stone.

'_Here lies__ the sinner Chrono'_

_lover, protector and dear friend._

_He will forever live on in our hearts._

_**Fin**_

**_Thanks again everyone for reading and reviewing!_**


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